Taking CalderÛn de la Barca's La Vida es Sueno as its point of departure, Oscar Mandel's dream-play is a fiery exploration of the corrupting moral effect of power. The setting is a mythical Poland in a mythical seventeenth century. Readers will be particularly interested in the play's affinity with CalderÛn's masterpiece, Austrian Franz Grillparzer's Der Traum ein Leben, and Hugo von Hofmannsthal's Der Turm. In the remarks following the play, the author discusses its genesis, his opposition to minimalist and realist drama, and the relation of Sigismund to the plays mentioned above.
