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Playgoers Won't Be Counting Sheep

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By KATHY GREENBERG

Tribune correspondent

Published: June 8, 2008

In his preface to "A Dream Play," a surreal drama about a goddess who descends to Earth to observe the human condition, August Strindberg wrote, "Everything can happen, everything is possible and probable. Time and place do not exist."

He addressed the notion that life is but a dream - a conclusion he came to after enduring a series of failed relationships and several psychotic breakdowns.

This week, Jobsite Theater will present Caryl Churchill's adaptation of the 1901 play, a heavily distilled version that still retains the essence of Strindberg's original work.

The plot is simple. Agnes, a daughter of the gods, wants to experience what it means to be a human being. She comes to Earth to watch and later decides to participate. She marries, has a child, becomes disillusioned and realizes all of the frailties of human existence. She returns to the gods to share her newfound knowledge.

"Her experiences change her. She becomes a human being but ... she has to regain her divinity. She's never going to be what she was before," said director Chris Holcom.
Steve Garland plays the solicitor and Agnes' husband. An unhappy character, the solicitor is perhaps the strongest indicator of human suffering. He is the reality check from which Agnes cannot escape.

"He's a little down-in-the-mouth, sort of a wretch. Agnes winds up learning things living with him that are bittersweet. He marries her to the idea of what it is to be responsible and have duties in life," Garland said.

Though the situations Agnes experiences are all too real, the play and staging are structured entirely like a dream. There is no delineation between the waking and sleeping worlds. Scenes are steeped in symbolism and morph in the way that dreams do, where images appear seemingly out of nowhere or change without reason. Parts mean more than the whole, and each moment stands for itself.

"I think the audience will immediately recognize traditional dream scenes," said Kari Goetz, who portrays Agnes. "There's the idea of people changing identities or somebody representing somebody else. People come and go. There's flying, a lot of water imagery, a lot of floating."

An added bonus is the likelihood of enjoying unusual dreams after seeing the production. Garland has escaped this phenomenon, claiming exhaustion as the reason for his unremarkable REM cycle. Goetz, however, has been in dream overload.

"My dreams have been greatly affected doing this show," said Goetz. "I've had towers in my dreams, and there are towers in the show."

Let's hope the boogeyman doesn't make an appearance.

ON STAGE

A Dream Play

WHEN: Thursday through June 29; 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Shimberg Playhouse, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa

HOW MUCH: $24.50; (813) 222-1001; www.tbpac.org

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