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“Life Is A Dream” UIL Theatrical Design Justification Paper

“The mind is endless. You put me in a dark solitary cell, and to you that's the end, to me

it's the beginning” (Charles Manson). “Life Is a Dream, a highly poetic drama of free will

versus predestination and of nature’s versus nurture’s role in self-determination played out

against the backdrop of court intrigue and the restoration of personal honor.”​ Life Is A Dream

presents a very titillating narrative of people righting the wrongs done to them. This is a common

theme throughout the Spanish Golden Age of Literature, in which the play was written. From the

beginning of the process, I knew that I didn’t want to set the show in the 17th century and instead

opt for something more modern. I wanted to pick a relatively modern time period to more

envelop the audience member with more familiar symbols. So, I took a deep dive into the

historical context of the play; major political events, social changes, demographics and started to

work my way back from the modern ages and tried to find the most similarities. The plot of Life

Is a Dream as well as the characters’ motivations that drive the plot all pointed in the direction of

cults.

The 1600s in Europe had many trends that mirror “cult-ure” which included

absolutionism (when one entity consumes all power), global political tension which was leading

people to find a new normal. Cult culture had been apart of American society since the birth of

the nation, however in the 1960s and 70s amid global tension, people were looking for a new

normal. For just as long as cults were prominent, there were skeptics. At the head of the

congregation was a patriarchal figure (Basil) whose rule depended solely on the unwavering

fellowship. When people challenge this rule due to a variety of reasons they were silenced,
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drugged or removed entirely (Segismund). While doing my research, I found that cults used

drugs and hallucinogens to control their followers. This was one of the striking connections of

cult practice to Life Is A Dream and it is shown in Act II when Clotaldo says, ​“Your senses

dulled by sleep’s deep spell. And all your forces rendered numb”.​ King Basil was threatened by

Segismund’s challenge to power so he used a “potion” in order to place him back into

subordinance. Cults often chose desolate and remote places to be their encampments. In Act I

Scene i, Rosaura describes the Polish landscape, ​“by day’s fainthearted light, I see a structure

rise amid those peaks… A palace born withing these barren hills. So rustic and so crude. The

sun is to loath to look on frames so rude; Construction, fashioned ruggedly enough that lying at

the base of rocky crags”.

Cults were often forced to live off the grid due to their questionable nature which means

they lived with what they had. They often found abandoned sites and reclaimed them for their

needs. The Manson family lived in Spahn Ranch, in the hills of California. In my design process,

I researched multiple accounts of how the clan repurposed the complex for their needs and found

that they only brought in needed necessities in order to stay off of the radar. By the time the

Mansons moved in “​Spahn Ranch was not so much a ranch as it was “the old Western movie set

it once was. The row of empty buildings extending along the dirt road toward Spahn’s

shack—decaying structures with faded signs”​ according to a 1970 Esquire report. This was the

perfect aesthetic to construct a set out of repurposed materials. Since walls could be constructed

out of reclaimed wood and flooring