THEATER REVIEW : ‘A Dream Play’ Comes to Life at the Marquis

August Strindberg’s “A Dream Play” at the Marquis Public Theater has the flavor of a fable painfully learned.

When the divine daughter of Indra, clad in shimmering silver from head to toe, steps down from the heavens to try to understand human suffering, she is as sweet and gentle as one might imagine perfection to be.

It is not until she marries and has a child by a man with whom she quarrels--about their poverty, the lack of fresh air, the lack of beauty, and why he insists that they need to eat cabbage when she detests it--that she can say truly, and with feeling, “It is not easy being a human being.”

At that point, she brings to the statement the force of Helen Keller understanding water for the first time by feeling it rush through her hands.

Recently, director Anne Bogart used Strindberg’s words from a variety of sources to explore the inside of the playwright’s mind in her play “A Strindberg Sonata” at UC San Diego. In the Marquis’ sensitive and eloquent production of “A Dream Play,” directed by Minerva Marquis, Strindberg tells his story in his own words, bringing the pain of his own life to the stage.

The yearning for love, that ends either in the pain of rejection or--worse--marriage, seems to relate directly to his three divorces and his five children, all of whom he lost to the custody of his ex-wives.

The academic quarrels about the meaning of life from doctors of medicine, philosophy and theology also cut close to the bone for Strindberg, who studied medicine and philosophy only to drop out in exasperation at their contradictions and agonize about God.

Between on-stage and offstage duties, most of the cast does double or triple work and does it well. Susan Simmons brings just the right touch of otherworldliness to the daughter of Indra. H.D. Argenbright and Robert Larsen, who were part of the Marquis’ “Rashomon” team with Simmons, bring a spicy differentiation to the nearly dozen roles they play between them. Ginger Perry and John Blunt provide solidity to the roles they play of an officer, mother, coal hauler, singer, deans and a young wife.

And Monica Ellis--who can be spied just behind the scenes laboring to move the small revolving stage for special effects--and Estaban Gutierrez contribute fine support in their smaller parts.

The single-most remarkable contribution to this show, however, may well be Blunt’s imaginative and compelling set design in which the daughter of Indra comes down from the heavens--a far-off corner of the stage with twinkling lights in the darkness--via a black spiral staircase, to encounter seven arches, representing seven walls of a castle and a huge castle door with a cloverleaf that may or may not lead to the answers of the universe.

Complemented by Ellery J. Brown’s bold lighting, the set sets up the fantasy and eases the action smoothly through 12 swift scenes.

“A Dream Play,” showing through June 24, fits in well with the Marquis’ recent pattern of showing classics on a shoestring. In showing the likes of “A Dream Play,” “Rashomon,” and “Six Characters in Search of an Author,” this theater is covering ground that lies bare all too often. It is San Diego’s good luck that the Marquis is presenting these treasures with the insights and passion that are their due.

“A DREAM PLAY”

By August Strindberg. Translated by Ebert Sprinchorn. Director, Minerva Marquis. Production design, John Blunt. Lighting, Ellery J. Brown. With Robert Larsen, Susan Simmons, H.D. Argenbright, John Blunt, Ginger Perry, Monica Ellis and Estaban Gutierrez. At 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, through June 24. At 3717 India St., San Diego.