Introduction by Nicholas Dromgoole.

Both plays are highly charged emotional works, full of Lope de Vega’s vitality. This adaptation of Fuente Ovejuna was performed in Declan Donnellan’s directorial debut at the Royal National Theatre.

The Mayor of Zalamea, Life's a Dream, The Great Theatre of the World

In The Mayor of Zalamea, commissioned by the Royal National Theatre, peasants’ honour clashes with military discipline. Life’s a Dream is Calderón’s most famous philosophical play. The Great Theatre of the World is an allegorical work that would originally have been performed in the street to the accompaniment of music and dancing.