SUEÑO
ADAPTED FROM
PEDRO CALDERÓN DE LA BARCA’S
Life Is a Dream
For Adena and Teo
SPECIAL THANKS TO
Patrick Egan, Richard Riehle,
Ben Siegler, Zillah Hill, Sab Shimono,
Gregory Wallace and Maria Canals
PRODUCTION HISTORY
Sueño was commissioned by Hartford Stage Company (Mark Lamos, Artistic Director) and developed with the assistance of the Mark Taper Forum (Gordon Davidson, Artistic Director).
Sueño received its world premiere at the Hartford Stage Company (Michael Wilson, Artistic Director; Stephen J. Albert, Managing Director) in Hartford, Connecticut, on February 20, 1998. The world premiere production was sponsored by Aetna, The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and the National Endowment for the Arts. It was directed by Lisa Peterson; scenic design was by Michael Yeargan, costume design was by Meg Neville, lighting design was by Christopher Akerlind, sound design was by David Budries, fight direction was by David Leong, the dramaturg was Morgan Jenness and the production stage manager was Deborah Vandergrift. The cast was as follows:
| BASILIO | Geno Silva |
| DON CLOTALDO | Yusef Bulos |
| SERVANT | Ken Parker |
| ROSAURA | Michi Barall |
| CLARÍN | Jan Leslie Harding |
| SEGISMUNDO | John Ortiz |
| ASTOLFO | Damian Young |
| ESTRELLA | Alene Dawson |
| IST SOLDIER | Sam Wellington |
| GUARDS, SERVANTS, SOLDIERS, REBELS | Darin Dunston, John Socas |
Sueño received its New York premiere at MCC Theater (Robert LuPone and Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director) by special arrangement with Hartford Stage Company on March 1, 2000. It was directed by Lisa Peterson; scenic design was by Riccardo Hernandez, costume design was by Anita Yavich, lighting design was by Christopher Akerlind, original music and sound design were by Fabian Obispo, original guitar music was by Aaron Gilmartin, flamenco instruction was by Gloria Marina, fight direction was by Rick Sordelet, the production manager was Rob Conover and the production stage manager was Lisa Gavaletz. The cast was as follows:
| BASILIO | Geno Silva |
| DONCLOTALDO | Yusef Bulos |
| SERVANT | Ken Parker |
| ROSAURA | Michi Barall |
| CLARÍN | David Greenspan |
| SEGISMUNDO | John Ortiz |
| ASTOLFO | James Urbaniak |
| ESTRELLA | Rebecca Wisocky |
| IST SOLDIER | Sam Wellington |
| GUARDS, SERVANTS, SOLDIERS, REBELS | Lorenzo Gregorio, Ken Parker, Jeremy J. H. Seymour, Sam Wellington |
CHARACTERS
BASILIO, King of Spain.
DON CLOTALDO, his valido, Rosaura’s father.
SERVANT
ROSAURA, a young woman from Poland.
CLARÍN, her manservant.
SEGISMUNDO, Prince of Spain, son of Basilio.
ASTOLFO, Duke of Warsaw.
ESTRELLA, a princess.
IST SOLDIER, a rebel leader.
SETTING
Seventeenth century Spain.
ACT ONE
Scene 1. Basilio’s palace, Spain. 1610.
Scene 2. Spanish frontier and Segismundo’s tower. 1635.
Scene 3. Basilio’s palace. Later that day.
Scene 4. Segismundo’s tower. Later that day.
ACT TWO
Scene 1. Basilio’s palace. The next day.
Scene 2. Segismundo’s tower. The next day.
ACT THREE
Scene 1. Segismundo’s tower. Days later.
Scene 2. Basilio’s palace. Days later.
Scene 3. Spanish countryside. That day.
Beauty will be convulsive—or will cease to be.
—ANDRÉ BRETON
“MANIFESTO OF SURREALISM, 1924”
He realized that, though he may penetrate all the riddles of the higher and lower orders, the task of shaping the senseless and dizzying stuff of dreams is the hardest that a man can attempt–much harder than weaving a rope of sand or of coining the faceless wind.
—JORGE LUIS BORGES
“THE CIRCULAR RUINS”
No es sueño la vida.
—FEDERICO GARCÍA LORCA
THE POETIC WORKS OF FEDERICO GARCÍA LORCA
