“A heartbreakingly tender reminiscence of a life well lived that builds into an emotional crescendo.”
Make sure you bring some tissues because this is a faultless tear-jerker. What Dreams May Come is part of English Touring Opera’s 2025 season starting at the New Diorama. This astoundingly tender piece of creativity allows director Valentina Ceschi the freedom to re-contextualise classic excerpts from texts including Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Successfully transplanting well-known passages to present a solemn original tale, she weaves them alongside their classical arrangements from illustrious composers such as Benjamin Britten, Franz Schubert and Henry Purcell. I left the show in tears but for all the right, heartfelt reasons.
The staging is set in a hospital room in which an elderly man appears to be in palliative care. He is a puppet; the cast taking it in turns to deftly reveal the man’s life through chronological dreamlike recollections in front of him. He is visually presented in greyscale, with a shiny golden wedding ring the sole hint of colour. I particularly enjoyed the use of practical effects to demonstrate the passage of time. This included use of nature to interrupt the sterility of the hospital such as summer blossoms falling through the windows, autumnal leaves and hospital papers being blown about, and a simple single butterfly manually manipulated on a pole to convey the lovers’ bliss.
Soprano Alys Mererid Roberts provides powerful and meaningful expressiveness as she allows the story of the man and his wife to play out in front of her, alternating between a doctor and a relative of the man. Baritone Samuel Pantcheff is given some of the more softer yet hauntingly sad pieces to sing as he portrays a nurse or new father. Tenor Tamsanqa Tylor Lamani and Mezzo-Soprano Emily Hodkinson play the lovers in their youth, demonstrating a sweet sincerity and earnestness as their lives play out in front of the hospital bed. There is a sense of intimacy to the atmosphere. Music too is used effectively to pull at our heartstrings: a flute playfully exploring young love; a cello solo exploring grief at the hour of death. The chamber musicians superbly allowed the beautiful compositions to let the simplicity of the story shine.
I became emotionally invested in the highs and lows of our elderly protagonist. Clever puppetry direction allowed delicate gestures to convey meaning beyond any lyric: the old man touching his cheek to remember the touch of his wife when she accept a proposal, or the gentle tucking in and readjustment of his pillows by his nurse so he gets a good night’s sleep. I enjoyed the nuance and patience in the portrayal; his expressive character was as compelling as any human.
If a show packs such an emotional punch that you end up crying, it has done its job- what more can you want from your audience but a visceral response in the moment? There is a point at the end of the show involving the delicate placement of a pair of glasses in which I was reminded of my own late father- this was enough to cause my quiet weeping. This is a story about a life-well lived, but most importantly it is a story about a life well-loved. Prepare yourself for an hour of gut-wrenching but affectionate creativity, this show is simply incredible at eliciting feelings in a way no other medium can.