PRODUCTION PROGRAM | STANFORD TAPSLIFE PLEASE NOTE This show runs approximately 100 minutes without inter Please be advised that this performance includes the minor use of water-based fog and haze effects. There will be no reseating while the performance is in progress.IS A DREAM ADAPTED FROM THE PLAY BY PEDRO CALDERON DE LA BARCA DIRECTOR ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE SET DESIGNER COSTUME DESIGNER LIGHTING DESIGNER SOUND DESIGNER STAGE MANAGER DRAMATURG FLAMENCO CHOREOGRAPHER FIGHT CONSULTANT PROPERTIES MASTER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER ASSISTANT SOUND DESIGNER, SOUND BOARD OPERATOR Dominique Serrand Nathan Keepers Erik Flatmo Connie Strayer Tony Shayne Cliff Caruthers Tyler Miller Kari Barclay Yuelisa Valenzuela Dave Maier Christine Edwards ‘Josie Brody Julio Chavez Dan Holland Minh-Anh Day* Charlie Dubach-Reinhold* Irie Evans ROSAURA Fiona Maguire BUGLE Brenna McCulloch STRELLA Emma Rothenberg CLOTALDO Eliseo Valerio SHADOWS Sam Alexander Patrick Donovan Regan Lavin Faimi Salone Lea Zawada * Fight Captains, NOTE FROM ' THE DIRECTOR by DOMINIQUE SERRANDLife is a Dream is about injustice, fate and deceived love — a non fairy tale. Ibis structured like a comedy, as i laughter was our only defense against the para- Iyzing dangers of truth. 4 man is kept in isolation in a eave. His crime? To have been designated a future ty rant by some prophe- cies. His father Basilio, Do we bury our demons, do we test Segismundo by putting him on the throne only to realize that his former intuition to imprison him was correct, Segismmundo’s journe not unlike Oedi pus, isa transformative one. His enactment of revenge is pursued as in a dream, and as he confronts his own de counterthspreneton, — Dvetend they are tere iy sets and Segismundo has the fruit of do confronts his own lived there since birth, a monsters; he refuses to destiny, and do jyeegnsamed by them, In this. epic we challenge Newill appease his fury cal play, the author . and despair, and find, Calderon asks the ourselves to in reason, the path to question we all ask recognize we se his life and his ourselves: do we bury our demons, do we pretend they are the fruit of destiny, and do we challenge ourselves to recognize we created them. The great metaphys- ical theme of fate or destiny, catching, up with us is at the center of the play The King Basilio haunted by his de. cision to imprison his son, decides to created them. crown, And then there is Ro- saura, chasing her own nightmares, provoking destiny. Oddly considered by many critics of the play as aside, an exotic character ina quest for revenge, Rosaura is, in our production, the vehicle of ch Segismundo’s best inge, She transforms 1 love. By embracing Segis. mundo’s demonsas.a parallel toherown, she confronts a nightmarish world and creates a new order which possesses the troubling beauty and fragility of dreams. This is not justa translation. Ibis an ad: aptation. We were profoundly moved by the relevance of some of the themes of the play and so we made an effort to privilege the more contemporary ones. Censorship obliged writers to “end well” a the time the play was written — our version does not end in resolution. Our end is Rosaura’s question: “Are all sorrows, joy, pain like dreams — the true ones taken to be false, the false ones to be true:PLAYING POWER ON THE STANFORD STAGE by KARI BARCLAY DRAMATURGAll power is only lent, and no matter how much it seems assured, it must one day he given back. As Shakespeare's plays took the stage in Elizabethan England, several hun- dred miles south, Spain was having its own theatrical renaissance. The peri- od, known as the Spanish Golden Age, saw playwrights like Lope de Vega, Sor Juana de la Cruz, Tirso de Molina, and Pedro Calderén de la Barea produce a staggering total of a thousand plays be- tween the four of them. Many of these plays grappled with political ques- tions of the time, and they remain vital as they're becoming more frequently staged in the English-speaking world Calderdn's Life is a Dream, written in 1635, tells a story of power and lead: ship that is pertinent to any politi cal moment but might take on specific resonances today. Calderdn set the play in Poland as the country’s fragile de moeraey became troubled by infighting and burst into leaderless sectarianism, Meanivhile, he wrote the play as Spain was recovering from an economic cri sis and its kings continued to squander citizens’ precious resources on foreign wars and luxury goods. Shades of 2018, no? In these troublesome political envi- ronments about which and in which Calderén wrote, Life is. @ Dream asks what is required of a just ruler. For Calderon, authority cannot be de- rived or denied based on inheritance alone: one cannot trust the fate written in the stars for a ruler. Rather, power must be earned and proven through merit. The play is one giant test for Segismundo as potential leader. Will he become the cruel monster that ev~ eryone predicts he will, or will he defy his fate and prove himself worthy of power? Ultimately, the play suggests, rity lies with the people to de their legitimate ruler: It is exciting to have Steven Epp and Dominique Serrand of ‘The Moving Company, a Minneapolis-based theate group, teaming up on this production at Stanford, since they have often grav itated toward political productions of iconic texts. Along with Nathan Keep- ets, who joined the production process at Stanford for the first week, Epp and Serrand have worked together on many plays, with Epp writing or adapting and Serrand directing, as with this version of Life isa Dream. Together, The Moving Company has taken on materials rang= ing from Moligre to Faulkner to Goethe. Now, ay they work on Calderén, they bring a knack for pairing these texts with bold stage pictures and movement.Life is a Dream raises many questions of en bodiment brought to life in this production. mundo is denied human dignity and kept as an animal in his dungeon at the start of the play, but how does he come to see himself as human and gain treatment as such? As Rosa ra takes on different physical language with the visceral focus on the body. The play grapples with metaphysical ideas around spirituality and free will, but at the end of the day, these ideas have material lives in our bodies and those of the characters. As our actors move through the world of Life is @ Dream, the hope genders in the play = md that their movement derstands herself as SENO.NOS-DEIAIS ‘well although the both feminine and ~ ater, like dreaming, masculine, how does SONAR is fiction, it ean allow she relate to the us to reimagine the Dody to which others assign a single gen- der? Bugle grapples with a condition of poverty in which his hodily cravings for food and security are often unmet, yet his ody proves oddly resilient through his many “incarnations. ‘The cast has worked with movement through- out the production process, learning. some steps of flamenco and inhabiting characters other than the final ones they perform. This approach has paired Calderon's often meta- NO-OS DETAREM, material worlds we inhabit and reevalu- ate whom we entrust with power. vvSTUDENT se REFLECTIONS PON CREATING THIS PRODUCTION AT STANFORD PPR oa Pe em Toe Teac have ever worked with who doesn’t eco aan eS TCO eee Tenor nn ee cae weeks, We have challenged our con ventions and found the moon on our recent nents CeCe Ree TaD SST naerenntseet nto Resets ee reat ooec rn erence a ener acca ane eee) PEER eee TES) rer Tee ern Roe oo lations of our abilities as actors, anid defying them together. Coming to Pen Renae en Rc ree ee eee te Teneo ere nC SR SM Tm Oo cr SOM Cem Ten at and fun, allowing the rhythm of the SRM ORC ROT ec el ccs orem mene COT Tea eR Aa RS challenge, a leap into the unknown, SRS Ue Tew OEE Loe eRe eC ems ee fields of study) so I never commit to ENG TOROS eae play has taught me so much about how worthwhile theater can be.ON ADAPTING THE PLAY Sore EEE of such an iconic work is both ae There's a wonderful licence in Rone ene Neon PO Cosa Te OC ren Ren eso aT ReoT AU ener a ToT aT Ono Reston text justice. To me, every rehearsal feels as eee Te TT PSD ae eect Sea and is still burning today, but with an ever-changing flame. We bring the forms that Calderon Pe eo On er OO Ice oe Dea rR language that feels as dynamic as TSAI oh Rance} the premise, It gets its dyn: eo Me aT POT ay eT ee tion leaves room for us to recut, to play: both to shape it, and be Seca Me change, and a lot has changed since Calderon wrote. It’s. the many things that have stayed the a eee CT fled a fluidity to life, a blurring of ees ence Ree Serer ae Te RT ote ec eer evant today, In our production ROS NCon em Tat into these themes and finding er Rt aT PoeON EMODYING ROSAURA DN eo oes er aor STs Con mS ous women's rights movements ONC Soa RTRs te When we first find her, she's Pao On Recenter et CT Cy Se COE to of the honor stripped from her: Eres nn or cn right to speak and be heard. Teno ero nen eee cece STS ing palaces for capitals, this is Seeman erCT rot make today. Her words to Clot aldo, Astolfo, and Segismun- do, painted on a poster, would hy FIONA MAGUIRE TOL Tega Rca eee oa uence ote ONS ora Steen Teese FiO eM cree TNC Scere marco Terre dignity and recognition can be found behind every keyboard Cn etme Ome ocd won't be defined by her gender Cate a ea Fee OTT a Te Te Sa eee eee Fron enter eae Fie en ee Cee She is a human, who refuses to eeeoene na od fit ri ec)SET DESIGNWHO’S WHO ABOUT THE ARTISTS DOMINIQUE SERRAND (Director) is a Paris Native and was Artistic Director, and one of the co-founders, of the celebrat- {re de la Jeune Lune based in Minneapolis, Minneso: ta (1978-2008). The company was known for its visually rich highly physical style of theater derived from clown, mime, dance and opera, as well as their reinvented classies and highly ambitious original work. elt Theatre de fa Jeune Lune won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Regional Theater, and he was granted the 2005 USA Artist Ford Foundation Fellowship and the 2009 Bush Foundation Fellow- ship. Mr, Serrand has been knighted by the French Govern: ‘mentiwith the Order of Arts and Letters, Mr. Serrand has acted, conceived, directed and designed Gets/lights/video) for most Jeune Lune productions for over 30 years, concentrating primarily on directing. He has direet- ed shows at American Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theater, The La Jolla Playhouse, Yale Repertory Theatre, Ac- tors Theater of Louisville, The Guthrie Theater, The Children’s Theatre Company and the Alley’Theatre, among others. NATHAN KEEPERS (Artistic Associate) is Co-Artistic Direc tor of The Moving Company in Minneapolis. Since 2009 MoCo has been making original creations and adaptations including: Come Hell and High Water, Werther aud Lotte, Out of the Pan Into the Fire, All's Fuir, Love's Labour's Lost, Liberty Falls 54321, Every Sentence Is For ‘he Birds, and most recently Refugia, in jon with The Guthrie ‘Theater. Keepers spent 11 sea~ h Theatre de la Jeune Lume. In the Twin Cities. Keepershas performed at The Jungle Theater, Ten Thousand Things, Sod House Theatre and Children’s Theatre Company. Nation- ally, Keepers works regularly, as an actor and director, with Actors Theatre of Louisville and has traveled to Berkeley Rep, American Repertory Theatre, The Alley'Theatre, [Jolla Play- house, South Coast Repertory, The Shakespeare Theatre (DC) The Folger Theatre. Keepers studied at ‘The Burlesk Center \with Pierre Byland in Switzerland, and Eeole Philippe Gaulier SAM ALEXANDER (Shadow) isa senor mijoring in Music (Sei- nice, & Technologs). He has an interest in sound design, musi for film, acting both on stage and screen, as well as sereenwriting KARI BARCLAY (Dramaturg) isa theater director in the TAPS. PhD. program. Recent work includes Can 1 Hold You? (TAPS), 20 Minutes of Action (Just Ard, Bully Boy (Common Wealth), Cock (Manbites Dog), and The Man Who (Duke University). Be- yond directing, he does community engagement for the San Francisco Mime Troupe. JOSIE BRODY (Assistant Director) is a freshman, Previous ly at Stanford she directed 4 Thousand Eyes for Ram's Head's Original Winter One Acts JULIO CHAVEZ (Assistant Stage Manager) is a senior miajor- ing in TAPS. Previously at Stanford, he portrayed the role of Bruno in Katzelmacher (TAPS), The Announcer/Ensemble in Yelloz> Face (NNTP), and various small roles in the Casa Zapata plays the past bwo years. MINH-ANH DAY (stolfo) does many shows and oecasional- Iy takes classes. Acting: Gaieties of Future Past (Rams Head), Machcth, and Tivelth Night (StanShakes), Gui¢ (Lab). Assistant Sound Design: The Larwnie Project (TAPS), Gaieties 2or7: Bear anormal Activity (Ram's Head), Romeo and Fuliet Stanshakes). Directing: Git (Lab). PATRICK DONOVAN (Shadow) isa senior History major, and is honored to be working with this committed company of artists. (CHARLIE DUBACH-REINHOLD (Basilio) is a junior major~ ing in TAPS, Previously at Stanford they performed in Hamlet (Queen Gertrude, hwit), The Laramie Project (TAPS), The Tem- best (King Alonso, TAPS), Olt What a Lovely War! (TAPS), and Tovelve Angry Men (Juror #1, [wit). IRIE EVANS (Segismmundo) is a sophomore majoring in TAPS and minoring in Creative Writing and Spanish, Last Fall, Irie performed in the TAPS dance show, FOUR: New Danees... a8 a member of The Chocolate Heads under Aleta Hayes. This is, his fist Stanford theatrical production.DAN HOLLAND (Assistant Sound Designer) isa junior TAPS tmajor. He has recent completed his 20th production at Stan- ford, and has sound-designed for [wit], BLAGKstage, Theater Lab, ATP, TAPS, and Casa Zapata, among others. He currently serves on the board of wit], BLACKstage, Theater Lab, and NEXT. REGAN LAVIN (Shadow) is a freshman in TAPS, At Stanford she has played Claudius in Hamlet (wit). Before Stanford, she played Katharine in Zhe Taming of the Shrez and Janet in The Drowsy Chaperone, She altenited Lee Strasberg for six years. FIONA MAGUIRE (Rosaura) is junior Human Biology and TAPS major. She’s performed in Stanford! Repertory Theater, Stan Shakes, Ramn’s Head, and TAPS main stage productions, This pet formance marks her return to the Stanford stage aftera semester stuclyingabroad atthe Royal Academy of Dramatic Artin London. BRENNA MCCULLOCH (Bugle) has had the acting bug since age three. \ sophomore double-majoring in English and TAPS she’s performed on campus in The Tempest (TAPS) and The Laramie Project (TAPS Capstone), among others. Most recent ly, she was the vocal director of Gaieties 2077 (Ramn’s Head), ‘TYLER MILLER (Stage Manager) is a junior majoring in TAPS. Previously at Stanford, he stage managed The Wild Party (Ram’s Head) and The Merchant of Venice (jit). He recently acted as the title role in Hamlet (hwit), Juror 9 in Tavelve An~ gry Men (jit)), and in Oh What A Lovely War! (TAPS). EMMA ROTHENBERG (Estrella) is thrilled to participate in this production which, after returning from six months in South, America, culminates her love of Spanish, poctry,and theatre. Pre- ‘ious Stanford performances include St, joan of the Stockyards (TAPS), Teoelfth Night (StanShakes), The Tempest (TAPS), Wars of ‘the Roses (StanShakes), and Antony & Cleopatra (StanShakes). JAIMI SALONE (Shadow) is a sophomore studying TAPS and Physics. This is their first TAPS production. Previously, they were in The Vagina Monologues. Jaimi is a varsity athlete with aspirations to act, direct, and write in film, ELISEO VALERIO (Clotaldo) is a senior majoring in TAPS and, minoring in Classies. Past Stanford credits include Rasencran «and Guildenstern Are Dead, Hamlet, Evita, Oh What a Lovely War!, and The Tempest. He spends most of his time writing. thesis that analyzes productions of Angels in America then and now. LEA ZAWADA (Shadow) is graduating in the Spring to pursue alife in the arts. Recently, she has performed as Ariel in The ‘Tempest, and Miss Julie in her own directed version of the play Miss Jide. She is also a member of The Stanford Improvisors.@STANFoRDTAPS@ 00 LATMO Bins osdven | 7 _