Calderón is a dream
(#CalderónEsSueño)
FROM JUNE 26 TO JUNE 30, 2025
in the best social networks...
Year 2081
Artificial Intelligencerules the world : through the omnipotent BASILEUS system, AI governs all orders of human life, from the most transcendental events - the choice of political systems and their governments, the wars that are unleashed and who wins them or the functioning of global Economics - to the daily events of the most anonymous lives.
Indeed, at the age of 16, all the inhabitants of planet Earth enter "The Tower ", where the global system implants them with the capabilities, emotions and memories that the AI has decided for each of them.
In the Confederal Republic of Hispan lives Segismundo Lopez , a restless young man, nostalgic for the life of the first third of the 21st century, when - according to what he has been told - books and the press still existed and everyone could think freely. Segismundo has something that makes him special in the midst of his society: he has a small clandestine library , made up of a few volumes, inherited from his grandfather, a literature professor. Among them is La vida es sueño, by Calderón de la Barca - a distant playwright of Golden Age Spain - whose reading makes him very uneasy and makes him reflect: "Why does BASILEUS have to make all the decisions of my life for me? Why does he choose my work, where I should live or the person I should fall in love with? Do I have less freedom than a cold algorithm? Is this the fate that AI has in store for all humanity? And still more: "Is everything I have experienced since my admission to "The Tower" real or is this frenzy nothing more than an illusion, a shadow, a fiction ...". Segismundo, overwhelmed by doubts, can only talk about these issues, and taking the utmost precautions, with Clotaldo Jiménez, the sensible supervisor assigned to him by the system, and with Rosaura Pérez, Estrella Gutiérrez and Astolfo Martínez, also selected by the AI to be his friends.
What will Sigismund do in this situation? Will he resign himself to a life imposed on him or will he rebel against the absolute power of BASILEUS to be able to freely choose his destiny? Join us to find out!
The project
#CalderónEsSueño is a collaborative project led by Carlos Mata Induráin (GRISO Secretary and researcher ) and developed in social networks (Facebook, Instagram, X y LinkedIn), on June 26-30, 2025, together with students of the subject "Baroque Literature" of the 2nd year of the Degree in Spanish language and LiteratureSchool of Philosophy and Letters) of the University of Navarra. The contents will be disseminated from the official accounts of GRISO in the mentioned networks.
We all know Calderón's Segismundo, but what will our Segismundo López of the year 2081 be like, someone who lives in a society totally controlled by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the dominant class of the Aristoi? Will one of the Expendables be able to rebel against the tyranny of the algorithms? How traumatic will his experience in "La Torre" be? Will he meet a new Rosaura there? Will his mentor be a new Clotaldo? If you want to know the answers to these questions, stay tuned to the RRSS from this Thursday, June 26...
The context
This project joins two previous ones, also coordinated by Carlos Mata Induráin and also developed in networks with the partnership of students from the School of Philosophy and Letters: #ÚltimosDíasCervantes (2016) and #LopeEstrenaComedia (2022, finalist in the category of "award of programs of study and knowledge dissemination" of the first edition of the Talía Awards 2023 of the Academy of Performing Arts of Spain). Taking advantage of the fact that La vida es sueño was one of the compulsory readings of the subject, we launched this initiative that goal to assimilate content related to our classical theater of the Golden Age in a fun and entertaining way, also with a clear creative and fictionalizing component. In this case, in addition, attentive spectators will perceive some echoes of dystopian societies that have been presented to us both in cinema and literature.
The team
Credits
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Original idea and coordination of the project: Carlos Mata Induráin
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Editors: Luis Gutiérrez López, Carlos Mata Induráin, Francisco Portillo López, Kristel Tapia Sardi and Antonio Vicente Abad
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Contributors: Elena Abad Lozano
Acknowledgements
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The promotional videos of the project were recorded at the Real Alcázar of Seville, on March 16, 2025, during the show "Naturaleza Encendida", inspired by the dreams of Felipe V.
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In the second video, Epic Action's "Magnetic Trailer" topic is used as background music.
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In the third video, the YourTunes topic "Trailer" is used as background music.
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In the image gallery we include some photographs of some modern montages of La vida es sueño, available in different places on the Internet. We give the appropriate credits to whoever corresponds in each case.
Image gallery
bibliography
Here is an essential bibliography on Pedro Calderón de la Barca and La vida es sueño, as well as on the Spanish theater of the Golden Age:
ÁLVAREZ SELLERS, María Rosa, Spanish tragedy in the Golden Age: "Life is a dream" or the crime of birthVitoria, Provincial Council of Alava, 1995.
ANTONUCCI, Fausta, "The beginning of Life is a dream and Góngora's Soledad primera", yearbook Calderonian, 7, 2014, pp. 33-51.
ARELLANO, Ignacio, History of Spanish theater in the 17th centuryMadrid, Chair, 1995.
ARELLANO, Ignacio, El arte de hacer comedias. programs of study on the theater of the Golden AgeMadrid, Biblioteca Nueva, 2011.
ARELLANO, Ignacio, "Los cuatro elementos en Life is a dream", in Ignacio Arellano, Dando luces a las sombras. programs of study on Calderón's autos sacramentales., Madrid / Frankfurt am Main, Iberoamericana / Vervuert, 2015, pp. 111-130.
BANDERA, Cesáreo, "El pathway de Segismundo en Life is a dream", Hispanic Review35, 1967, pp. 69-84.
CALDERÓN DE LA BARCA, Pedro, Comedies V: True fifth part of comediesed. by José María Ruano de la Haza, Madrid, Fundación José Antonio de Castro, 2010.
CALDERÓN DE LA BARCA, Pedro, La vida es sueño (Comedy, auto and loa)edition, edition, study and notes by Enrique Rull, Madrid, Alhambra, 1980.
CALDERÓN DE LA BARCA, Pedro, Life is a dreamEvangelina Rodríguez Cuadros, ed. by Evangelina Rodríguez Cuadros, Madrid, Espasa Calpe, 1998.
CALDERÓN DE LA BARCA, Pedro, Life is a dreamed. by José María Ruano de la Haza, 2nd ed., Barcelona, Octaedro, 2000.
CALDERÓN DE LA BARCA, Pedro, Life is a dream, ed. by Milagros Rodríguez Cáceres, Barcelona, Octaedro, 2001.
CALDERÓN DE LA BARCA, Pedro, Life is a dreamed. by Domingo Ynduráin, Madrid, Biblioteca Nueva, 2004.
CALDERÓN DE LA BARCA, Pedro, Life is a dreamed. by Ciriaco Morón Arroyo, 29th edition, Madrid, Chair, 2005.
CALDERÓN DE LA BARCA, Pedro, Life is a dreamNew edition by Fausta Antonucci, Madrid, Chair, 2025.
CAMPBELL, Ysla, "Life is a dream" in the light of neo-Stoic-Tacist thought.Mexico, El high school of Mexico (Centro de programs of study Lingüísticos y Literarios), 2009.
CASALDUERO, Joaquín, "Meaning and form of Life is a Dream."in programs of study on spanish theaterMadrid, Gredos, 1962, pp. 164-184.
CILVETI, Ángel L., The meaning of "Life is a dream", Valencia, Albatros, 1971.
CILVETI, Ángel L., "La función de la metáfora en Life is a dream", Nueva Revista de PhilologyHispánica22.1, 1973, pp. 17-38.
COUDERC, Christophe, "La vida es sueño leída desde el desenlace", Calderonian yearbook ., 4, 2011, pp. 79-97.
CRUICKSHANK, Don William, Calderón de la Barca: his secular degree program , transl. by José Luis Gil Aristu, Madrid, Gredos, 2011.
DE ARMAS, Frederick A., "Papeles de zafiro: signos políticos-mitológicos en Life is a Dream", Calderonian yearbook2, 2009, pp. 75-96.
DE ARMAS, Frederick A., "Rubens, Calderón y los dioses de Life is a dreamUranus, Saturn, Jupiter", Hipogrifo. Journal of literature and culture of the Golden Age., 5.1, 2017, pp. 103-114.
DÍEZ BORQUE, José María, Sociology of the Spanish comedy of the 17th century, Madrid, Chair, 1976.
DÍEZ BORQUE, José María, Society and Theater in Lope de Vega's SpainBarcelona, Bosch, 1978.
DÍEZ BORQUE, José María, The spectacles of the theater and the party in the Spanish Golden AgeMadrid, Ediciones del Laberinto, 2002.
DUNN, Peter N., "The Horoscope Motif in Life is a dream", Atlante1, 1953, pp. 187-201.
DURÁN, Manuel, and Roberto GONZÁLEZ ECHEVERRÍA (eds.), Calderón and Criticism: History and AnthologyMadrid, Gredos, 1976.
EGIDO, Aurora, ""Alas, wretched me! Alas, wretch!". Notes on Life is a dream", Bulletin of Spanish Studies, 90.4.5, 2013, pp. 535-549.
FEAL, Carlos, "The power of Rosaura in Life is a dream by Calderón de la Barca", Canadian Journal programs of study Hispanic programs of study46.2, 2022, pp. 315-338.
GARCÍA GUTIÉRREZ, Juan, "Two aspects of the baroque worldview: life as dream and the world as theater", Magazine programs of study Extremeños58.3, 2002, pp. 863-876.
GONZÁLEZ ECHEVERRÍA, Roberto, "Infinity and improvisation in Life is a Dream", Bulletin of the Comediantes, 66.2, 2014, pp. 141-160.
HALL, H. B., "Sigismund and the Rebel Soldier." Bulletin of Hispanic Studies45.3, 1968, pp. 181-200.
HESSE, Everett W., "The Motive for Sleep in Life is a dream", Segismundo3, 1967, pp. 55-62.
IGLESIAS FEIJOO, Luis, "En el texto de Calderón: Life is a dream".in Ignacio Arellano (ed.), Calderon 2000. Tribute to Kurt Reichenberger on his 80th birthday.Kassel, Kassel, Edition Reichenberger, 2002, vol. II, pp. 517-532.
MORENO CASTILLO, Enrique, On the meaning of "Life is a dream", Madrid, Biblioteca Nueva, 2004.
OLMEDO, Félix G., The sources of "Life is a Dream". The idea, the story, the dramaMadrid, Madrid, Voluntad, 1928.
PARKER, Alexander A., "The Tower of Sigismund: a Calderonian Myth," in Deborah Kong (ed.), The imagination and art of Calderón. Essays on the comediesMadrid, Chair, 1991, pp. 119-131.
PEDRAZA JIMÉNEZ, Felipe B., Calderón. Life and theaterMadrid, Alianza, 2000.
REGALADO, Antonio, Calderón. The origins of modernity in Golden Age Spain.Barcelona, Destino, 1995, 2 vols.
RESINA, Juan Ramón, "Honor y razón en Life is a dream", Cuadernos de research Filológica, "La vida es sueño".9, 1983, pp. 129-150.
RIVERA DE ROSALES, Jacinto, Dream and reality. The poetic ontology of Calderón de la Barca.Hildesheim / Zurich / New York, Georg Olms Verlag, 1998.
RUANO DE LA HAZA, José María, The first version of "Life is a dream".by Calderón, Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 1992.
RUIZ RAMÓN, Francisco, Calderón our contemporaryMadrid, Chair, 2000.
RULL FERNÁNDEZ, Enrique, "Tiempo y sentido en la composición de Life is a dream", Príncipe de VianaAnnex 18, 2000, pp. 343-354.
RULL FERNÁNDEZ, Enrique, "Perspectivismo y espacios simbólicos en Life is a dream", Hipogrifo. Journal of literature and culture of the Golden Age., 5.1, 2017, pp. 409-419.
SÁEZ RAPOSO, Francisco, All Madrid is theater. The stages of the Villa y Corte in the Golden Age., Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, 2018.
SLOMAN, Albert E., "The Structure of Calderónʼs Life is a dream", Modern Language Review48.3, 1953, pp. 293-300.
SUÁREZ, Juan Luis, "Los tres problemas de Segismundo: acción dramática y existencial en Life is a Dream", Bulletin of the Comediantes51.1-2, 1999, pp. 21-36.
SUÁREZ, Juan Luis, "The death of Clarín and the representation of time in La vida es sueño", Hecho teatral. Revista de teoría y internship del teatro hispánico.2, 2002, pp. 43-56.
VALBUENA BRIONES, Ángel, "Un preludio y tres interpretaciones de Life is a dream", in Critical perspective of Calderón's dramas.Madrid, Rialp, 1965, pp. 166-178.
VALBUENA PRAT, Ángel, "El orden barroco en Life is a dream", EscorialVI, 1942, pp. 167-192.
VEGA GARCÍA-LUENGOS, Germán, "Ecos de Rosaura (for a better reading of the beginning of Life is a dream and increase the Calderonian repertoire)", Critic87-88-89, 2003, pp. 887-898.
VEGA GARCÍA-LUENGOS, Germán, Don W. CRUICKSHANK and José María RUANO DE LA HAZA, The second version of Calderón's "La vida es sueño".Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 2000.
WHITBY, William M., "Rosauraʼs Role in the Structure of. Life is a dream", Hispanic Review28, 1960, pp. 167-192.
WILSON, Edward M., "Life is a dream".in Manuel Durán and Roberto González Echeverría (eds.), Calderón and the critics: history and anthology, Madrid, Gredos, 1976, pp. 300-328.
ZUBIETA, Mar, "La vida es sueño" at the Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico: different perspectives of Calderón himself.Valladolid, Valladolid, University of Valladolid (Publications Secretariat), 2022.
ZUGASTI, Miguel, "A vueltas con el género de Life is a dream: serious palatine comedy", Classical Theater Notebooks, 31, 2015, pp. 257-297.