Life Is A Dream explores illusion, reality, fate and destiny, set against the backdrop of a mythical kingdom. 

To protect the country from the horrors prophesied, Segismundo is condemned for all eternity. Banished to a secret world high in the mountains and cut off from the sun, he can only dream of a life reversed, of palaces, empires, freedom and revenge.

Life Is A Dream is a poetic, epic play by 17th century Spanish playwright Pedro Calderon de la Barca, in a new version by Helen Edmundson, the acclaimed adaptor of Coram Boy at the National Theatre and the author of plays Flying and The Clearing.

Dominic West makes his Donmar Warehouse debut playing Segismundo in Life Is A Dream. The British actor has numerous credits on the London stage – including Rock ‘N’ Roll, The Voysey Inheritance and As You Like It – but recently he has become better known for playing a lead role in hit US television series The Wire, which broadcast in the UK this year. The actor returns to London to take on this mythical role. 

For more about Life Is A Dream, read the First Night Feature or Big Interview with Rupert Evans.