Dreamwork

Though Life is a Dreamis definitely not a play about Cuba, Cruz sees something very Cuban and modern in it.

"The characters are constantly asking questions about the decisions they've made and questioning their existence and whether their reality is a dream or illusion," Cruz says. "And the concept of dreams is always present in my work. In Two Sisters, the sisters escaped their reality through imagination. Escaping through literature was part of Anna in the Tropics. I think that comes naturally to Cubans. Those who live there need to escape the poverty of their existence, and those who have left need to escape the reality of the [country's] situation. And imagination, or art, is the way we choose to escape."

LIFE IS A DREAM, AT SOUTH COAST REPERTORY, SEGERSTROM THEATER, 655 TOWN CENTER DR., (714) 708-5555; WWW.SCR.ORG. PREVIEW THURS., FEB. 8; OPENS FRI. PERFORMANCES CONTINUE THEREAFTER TUES., 7:30 P.M.; WED.-FRI., 8 P.M.; SAT., 2:30 & 8 P.M.; SUN., 2:30 & 7:30 P.M. THROUGH MARCH 11. $20-$60.