THEATER REVEIW:Life is a futuristic, fury-filled ‘Dream’

The program lists no time nor place for South Coast Repertory’s production of “Life is a Dream,” but the Spanish epic, though it dates back to the 17th century, appears to be set in some futuristic, militaristic society where rulers are guided by astrological whims.

This is the direction in which director Kate Whoriskey and set designer Walt Spangler are heading — Spangler’s stark, jagged structures suggest some dark, nightmarish world and Whoriskey’s production adopts a militant posture, complete with shattering sounds and blinding light flashes.

Originally written in the mid-1600s by Pedro Calderon de la Barca and translated and adapted by Pulitzer Prize-winner Nilo Cruz, this ambitious project, commissioned by the repertory, carries a Shakespearean-like plot at its center. Beneath all the flashing and crashing lies a struggle for power, though not necessarily the traditional good-versus-evil variety.

Here, the reigning king Basilio (John de Lancie) has had his son Segismundo (Daniel Breaker) imprisoned since birth because the stars foretold the young man would become a tyrannical despot. The son’s only contact has been his jailer and tutor, Clotaldo (Richard Doyle), who has schooled him into a highly literate, if impulsive, young man.

“Let’s test him,” the conspirators agree, and for a brief moment, Segismundo is thrust into the palace as the future king. The effects of this shocking transition tend to support the stars’ prophecy, and the young ruler is returned to captivity — and told that the intervening moments were nothing but a dream.

Meanwhile, subplots are playing themselves out as the kingdom’s princess (Jennifer Chu) and duke (Jason Manual Olazabal) blithely face off in a genteel quest for power while a noble-born lady (Lucia Brawley) conducts her own, more determined mission, dressed initially as a man.

Breaker, assigned the show’s most difficult role, excels in his initial mystification and eventual emotional rehabilitation. Whether his ethnicity (Breaker is black, the rest of the company white) plays a part in his banishment is left to the audience to determine. De Lancie, though smooth of tongue and conspiratorial in nature, displays a heartfelt compassion beneath his ruling-class demeanor.

As the vital link between the prisoner’s two worlds, Doyle navigates the territory with an avuncular wisdom. Brawley projects a steely sense of purpose, while Olazabal and Chu play off each other with wit and alacrity.

Shakespeare repeatedly used lower-class characters to tease the audience while advancing the plot, and “Dream” employs Matt D’Amico’s function as Brawley’s servant in this regard. In one scene, D’Amico enters from the theater lobby, advising an unseen usher that he doesn’t require a ticket.

Spangler’s domineering settings and Scott Zielinski’s incendiary lighting design combines with the crashing sound effects of Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen to create a furiously mobile backdrop. Few productions contain quite so much sound and fury as this one.

“Life is a Dream” may astonish and confuse audiences during its first act, but its elements are strikingly aligned in the second. Dreams and reality blend quite seamlessly into this powerfully structured production.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “Life is a Dream”

WHERE: South Coast Repertory, Segerstrom Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

WHEN: Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m., Wednesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., Sundays at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. until March 11

COST: $20 to $51

CALL: (714) 708-5555