„Life is a Dream”, a play from the golden age of Spanish playwriting, is one of the most influential works of the baroque period, which has been brought to stage through the centuries in very different cultures. In the centre of the play there is the made up king of Poland, Basilio, who is convinced by a prophecy that his son, Segismundo, will grow up to be a tyrant who kills his own father, thus bringing about the ruin of the country. In an attempt to avoid this, the king has his son locked up in a desolate tower in the mountains. After many years have passed, his conscience starts to weigh on him. Segismundo is drugged and brought back to the castle to test him.

Calderón does not only deal with political power and the fate of an individual in his play, but he presents universal questions about the freedom, responsibility and true nature of man. „Life is a Dream” is an allegorical versed play, where the baroque sense of the world – the fleeting, ever-changing and ostensible nature of life – intertwines with the philosophical discussions of the early modern period. Calderón’s famous theme, that life is like a dream, does not lead to nihilism, but ethical responsibility: since truth is indeterminate, our moral choices become even more important. This thoughtful tension and poetic depth is exactly what makes this play a timeless classic, that speaks to viewers even today.