The Calvin College Department of Communication Arts and Sciences presents the Spanish Renaissance Classic, Life is a Dream, writeen by Pedro Calderon de la Barca and adapted by T.M. Camp.

The story is of an Oedipal prince named Segismundo whose superstitious star-gazine father has imprisoned him from birth because of a prophecy that predicted Segismundon would rule with an iron hand and cause great turmoil for his people. Fearing this prophecy, the king builds a prison deepin in the woods pretending that the child has died. woven into this father-son tale is a secondary plot which tells the story of a dishonored young woman who dresses as a man to recover her wayward lover and her honor. She, along her way, encounters the imprisoned Segismundo and their stories unfold simultaneously. Segismunod is released from prison under the disguise of a dream; his father drugs him, brings him to the palace, dresses him in prince's robes, and treats him as though he has been a king all his life. Stunned by his new surroundings and wondering whether he is awake or dreaming, he begins to test the nature of reality. The kind, horified at some of his son's behavior, drugs him again and places him back in the prison, pretending that the entire episode was merely a terrible nightmare. In the end, the people revolt and demand that their true king Segismundo be released.

The Calvin Theatre Company production reflects on these issues at the endo of this century as we feel the apocalyptic and millennial tugs of our time. We wonder if technology is determining ourl ives or whether we ourselves are in control. The set of our production uses live camera cres, television, and film simultaneously with live action on the stage to explore the ideasof how technology has overrun our lives to the point that we sometimes have difficulty separating reality from television and the media. Our dream has become the televisions set, the stage on which we play out our desires and fears. The costumes and set are a combination of surreal and futuristive elements mixed with seventeenth century baroque style, beautiful imagery, and a cast of tour-de-force performances that shouldn't be missed.

Pedro Caldero de la Barca (1600 to 1681) was born in Madrid into an upper=class family, receiving the highest University education that Renaissance Europe could offer, studying law, philosophy, theology, logic, rhetoric and languages. He has been called "the Spanish Shakespeare" time and time again for his mastery of creating plays that challenged and entertained his audiences in the seventeenth century. Life is a Dream examines the conflict between free will and predestination ,revealing the ultimate importance of individaul moral responsibility and self-control.

As a recent transplant to Michigan, T.M. Camp's adaptation of Life is a Dream at Calvin college marks his introduction to the midwestern theatre community. T.M. has had a number of original scripts produced for audiences from Memphis to San Francisco. Most recently, he worked with two experimental theatreo companis in Santa Barbra, California to create original performances on Irish mythology (Unseen Waters, Unkown Shores with the Lit MOon Theatere Company) and classical artwork (ART/plays with The Westmont Repertory Theatre).

Stephanie Sandberg is a professor at Calvin College who teaches Theatre History and Communication while also serving as a director for Calvin Theatre Company. Prior to arriving at Calvin in the Fall of 199, she was teaching theatre courses and directing productions at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She trained as an actress at California Institute for the Arts just north of Los Angeles and worked at theatre companies in Southern California including the West Coast Ensemble, the Hollywood Players, Los Angeles Shakespeare Festival, and others.

In 1989 she began pursuing a liberal arts degree at Westmont College, a small resdiential college in the hills of Santa Barbara where she recieved a degree in English Literature and Theatre History. It was here that she gained a passion for directin and teaching theatre history, prompting here to pursue an advanced degree in theatre. While studying at the University under a Regents Fellowship, Stephanie began working with an experimental theatre group in Santa Barbara called the LitMoon Theatre Company. This company explores the use of the actor's body as a transofrmation tool on the stage, interpreting text and emotion through the complex formations of the human body.

Stephanie has broght this process of directing and acting to the students in Calvin Tehatre Company. She uses improvisational techniques in the rehersal process and teaches actors how to use the full expression of their bodies and voices to create characters and to bring the text of plays to life for an audience. Her first production at Calvin, Caryl Churchill's play Mad Forest, premiered in April of 1997 and recieved an award nomination from the American College Theatre Festival. Calderon's play Life is a Dream is a play she has been studying and consdering as a production for the past five years. The play is a beautiful peice of Renaissance art, as good as any of Shakespeare's works, that explores the nature of reality in relation to dream and triumph of human joy over tragedy and pain.

Production Personnel