In a diary entry about A Dream Play, Swedish playwright August Strindberg wrote that it was his most beloved work, "the child of my greatest pain." Strindberg was emerging from a mental breakdown when he penned the 1901 play and transformed his psychosis into a tangible work of art. Often credited as one of the forerunners of Expressionism and Surrealism in theater, Strindberg used his play to explore the subjective gap between the conscious and unconscious, the supernatural and terrifying power of dreams, and the idea of life as an illusion that never fulfills these dreams. Time, space and conventional perception are abandoned in favor of dream logic, where everything is constantly shifting and anything is possible. A Dream Play's central character is the ethereal Agnes, an otherworldly being who descends upon Earth and finds herself swept up in the sufferings and cruelties of humanity. Jobsite Theater — which describes the play as "Freud meets Alice in Wonderland" — produces Caryl Churchill's 2005 adaptation of A Dream Play, beginning with a preview this Wednesday night. June 12-29, 8 p.m. Thurs.-Sat., 4 p.m. Sun., with a special 8 p.m. preview Wed., June 11, Shimberg Playhouse-Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, downtown Tampa, $24.50 general ($10 preview), 813-229-7827, jobsitetheater.org.
This article appears in Jun 4-10, 2008.