Kate Whoriskey directs the work, which features original music by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen. The show began previews Feb. 2 and will play through March 11 at the California company's Segerstrom Stage.
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Cruz pens the new take on the tale of "a banished prince [who] is brought home only to be . . . sent away again, believing that the homecoming was all a dream. Could it be that all life is a dream, even the dreams we dream?" SCR commissioned the work.
"I've always adored the poetic language of Life Is a Dream and its mythical landscape," said Cruz. "The play is full of questions, and I think Calderón's greatness as a playwright lies in the rich humanity of his characters, and the questions they pose."
Bringing Life Is a Dream to life is a cast that features John de Lancie, Daniel Breaker, Jason Manuel Olazábal, Richard Doyle, Jennifer Chu, Luis Vega, Lucia Brawley and Matt D'Amico with Michael Irish, Ary Katz and Lovelle Liquigan.
Cuban-born New York native Cruz earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Anna in the Tropics. Other works include Two Sisters and a Piano, Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams, The Beauty of the Father, A Park in Our House, Night Train to Bolina, A Bicycle Country and Dancing on her Knees. Whoriskey has staged The Caucasian Chalk Circle, The Clean House, Antigone and the world premiere of Intimate Apparel at SCR — where she is an associate artist. Other credits include Fabulation, Vigils, Heartbreak House, The Rose Tattoo and the world premiere of Drowning Crow.
The design team includes Walt Spangler (set), Ilona Somogyi (costume), Scott Zielinski (lighting) with Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen (sound). Warren Adams provides choreography, John Glore is dramaturg and Erin Nelson serves as stage manager.
South Coast Rep will continue its season with Julia Cho's new The Piano Teacher (which marks the 100th world premiere production for the company) (March 11-April 1), Marie Myatt's My Wandering Boy (March 30-May 6), David Wiener's System Wonderland (April 22-May 13) and the Daniel Sullivan-directed staging of William Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Tickets to Life Is a Dream at South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa, CA, are available by calling (714) 708-5555 or visit scr.org.
