Life is a dream is is a Spanish play by written by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, first published in 1636. The play explores the philosophical question around ‘dream and reality’ and all types of dilemmas such as right and wrongs, free will and fate, humanity and barbarity, sensibility and rationality.

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There are two sections for this project. The first interpretation is inspired by the ancient Chinese text, ‘The Butterfly Dream” (莊周夢蝶) by Zhuangzi (莊子). Life is a mystery, no one knows if our ‘reality’ is real. Just like Ying and Yang, everything is our life is never single-sided. The idea is to encourage cultural exchange between Eastern and Western culture by translating the Spanish play under the Chinese context. Setting it in the Early Qing Dynasty, characters from Poland will be dressed in Manchu style, while characters from Muscovy will be dressed in Mongolian style.

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The second section is a historical interpretation of the two main characters, Rosaura and Astolfo. Setting the scene in 1880s, Rosaura is a girl who grew up in the countryside and Astolfo is a nobleman. A controlled colour palette with red and black is utilised.