Court Theatre
Tickets 773-753-4472
Through October 10th
JoAnne Akalaitis is back at the Court Theatre directing Pedro Calderon de la Barca's 17th Century masterpiece Life's A Dream, a play about destiny, astrology and revenge. As usual, Ms. Akalaitis puts her distinctive touch on the work and infuses the play with kinetic energy.
Life's A Dream tells the story of Basilio (John Reeger), the King of Poland, who imprisons his son Sigismund (Taylor Price) because the stars have foretold him that he will be a tyrant. A woman, Rosaura (Yvonne Woods), arrives in the kingdom dressed as a man, determined to exact revenge on Astolfo (Stephen Rishard), for breaking his promise of marriage to her. Basilio decides to let Sigismund try to rule the kingdom, and when his actions do indeed prove the prophecy, imprisons him again. John Barton and Adrian Mitchell's translation is poetic and stylized, proving it to be a very effective dramatic work.
Akalaitis has infused this classic play with contemporary attitudes and gestures, possibly to show that this play, quite brutal at times, still has very contemporary themes. Her staging is quick, effective, and well paced (the play runs two hours including intermission). Her production emphasizes the role of astrology and other metaphysical arts in the world of the play, as evidenced by the backdrops painted with astrology and palmistry charts, among other symbols. But while destiny plays a large role, so does redemption, for Sigismund himself shows us that while the stars' destiny is powerful, so is the power of the individual to decide his of her own fate. Gordana Silver's enormous red tiled set is extremely well used, and the lighting, by Christine A. Binder, is excellent. The atonal vocal music, however, is out of place.
Taylor Price plays Sigismund with an enormous amount of energy; you never know what he will do next. Yvonne Woods, as Rosaura, does a good job with the difficult assignment of playing a man half of the time. Her Rosaura is courageous and committed to her cause. Steven Rishard deftly plays the social climbing cad Astolfo, whipping out his cigarette case when he can no longer handle the pressure of having Rosaura intrude in his quest to marry the Princess Estrella, setting himself up to rule Poland. As Estrella, Arie Thompson must be commended for giving a fine performance as a last minute replacement for Elizabeth Laidlaw.
This is an opportunity to see a rarely produced classic play that reminds us that we can change our own destiny, no matter how daunting the task may be.
