CHEEK BY JOWL ANNOUNCES TOUR DATES AND CAST FOR
THEIR FIRST SPANISH-LANGUAGE PRODUCTION LIFE IS A DREAM (LA VIDA ES SUEÑO) AS PART OF THE BARBICAN’S 2023 SEASON
Cheek by Jowl, led by Artistic Directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, today announce tour dates and cast for their first Spanish-language production Life is a Dream (La Vida Es Sueño) by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. One of the most famous plays of the Spanish Golden Age, this production has its première at Teatro Lope de Vega in Seville, before touring to Girona, Valladolid, Valencia, Madrid and Albi (France) in its first season. The production will then return to the Barbican where the company are Artistic Associates, for its UK premiere from 13 April to 16 April 2023, with further dates to be announced.
Performed by an ensemble of Spanish actors, Donnellan directs Ernesto Arias, Prince Ezeanyim, David Luque, Manuel Moya, Rebeca Matellán, Alfredo Noval, Goizalde Núñez, Antonio Prieto and Irene Serrano.
The production is a co-production with Spain’s foremost classical theatre, the Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico in Madrid, under the Artistic Direction of Lluís Homar and LAZONA Productions.
Declan Donnellan today commented: “It is great to be working with this wonderful company of Spanish actors – and on this play, arguably the greatest achievement of the Spanish Golden Age. We performed in Spain before we ever performed in London, in the autumn of 1984. That was with Pericles which subsequently toured widely across the UK, Europe and beyond. In the spirit of that odyssey and adventure, we look forward to bringing our new production of Life is a Dream home to the Barbican and sharing it with audiences far and wide in the coming season…. We are very grateful to our partners in Spain, France and the UK who helped us to make this Dream a reality”
Co-produced by Cheek by Jowl, Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico (CNTC Madrid) and LAZONA; in collaboration with the Barbican, London and Scène Nationale d’Albi, France.
LIFE IS A DREAM (LA VIDA ES SUEÑO)
Written by Pedro Calderón de la Barca
In a version by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod
Cast: Ernesto Arias, Prince Ezeanyim, David Luque, Rebeca Matellán, Manuel Moya, Alfredo Noval, Goizalde Núñez, Antonio Prieto and Irene Serrano.
Director: Declan Donnellan; Designer: Nick Ormerod; Assistant Director: Josete Corral; Lighting: Ganecha Gil; Sound Design and Composer: Fernando Epelde; Movement Director: Amaya Galeote; Dramaturgy Advisor: Pedro Villora; Assistant Designer: Alessio Meloni; Lighting Assistant:
Javier Hernandez; Costume Assistant: Elena Colmenar; Sound Assistant: Gastón Horischnik; Interpreter: Juan Ollero; Publicity Design: Javier Naval; Executive Producer (LAZONA):
Miguel Cuerdo; Company Manager (LAZONA): Elisa Fernández
European Tour (see listings below)
14 October 2022 – April 2023
A prince chained in a mountain. A young woman disguised as a man, in search of vengeance. Revolution, love and murder – but in Life is a Dream, is the real truly real or is it all just a dream?
Written in verse in 1635, Life is a Dream is one of Spanish dramatist Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s best-known and most studied works and was listed as one of the 40 greatest plays of all time by The Independent.
LA VIDA ES SUEÑO
LISTINGS
Teatro Lope de Vega, Seville, Spain
14-16 October 2022
Teatro Municipal, Girona, Spain
22-23 October 2022
https://www.girona.cat/teatremunicipal/cat/programacio_fitxa.php?id=3482
Teatro Calderón, Valladolid, Spain
12-13 November 2022
Institut Valencia de Cultura, Valencia, Spain
19-20 November 2022
https://taquilla.ivc.gva.es/janto/main.php?Nivel=Evento&idEvento=VLCLAVIDA
Teatro ClásicoMadrid, Spain
15 December – 26 February 2023
https://teatroclasico.mcu.es/https://teatroclasico.mcu.es/2022/06/16/la-vida-es-sueno-9/
Scène Nationale d’Albi, France
9-10 March 2023
http://www.sn-albi.fr/spectacle.php?id_spectacle=1282
Barbican, London
13-16 April 2023