Undefined Fraction

A magical and surreal response to Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s, Life’s a Dream.

Undefined Fraction is a puppet theatre dance piece responding to the Spanish-language play by Pedro Calderón de la Barca— Life’s a Dream—which traces the patterns of inequality and reflects on the principles of justice, guilt, punishment and the conflict between free will and fate.

Loco7 will explore the philosophical question of whether this so-called “real world” is actually some sort of illusion, a “dream” from which we will be awakened some day. The moral question, then, is how should we be acting if this is some sort of test, some revelation about our character, our “nobility” that will be revealed at death?

About the performance
A couple of years ago we were looking for a new project to start working on for Loco7’s 2015 season. We thought of Life’s a Dream, and re-read it after many years. It was still a puzzle to us, so many layers, contradictions, lessons, righteous morality…what was Calderon trying to say? These contradictions, or at least the contrasting feelings this play brought up, took us on a journey to make Undefined Fraction. 

We took the play and cut almost all the text, deleted characters, combined characters and even made up a few characters. We wanted to touch upon the idea of free will, what makes us (humans) do what we do? Are we born “noble,” inherently able to know the difference between right and wrong? Are we born “belligerent,” taught how to behave, and told what we should believe in? 

There is no way of really knowing the answers, but we nonetheless continue to question…

October 13, 2016 at 7:00 PM

… To witness a scene so expertly played between two puppets, one larger than life (the warden), and one smaller than life (the baby Prince) is to step into a world where the infinite possibilities of theater are unquestionable. We must believe that in the hands of these performers the telling of any story is possible

Front Row Centre (New York)

… The most captivating stars of the show are undoubtedly the dynamic puppets (designed by Federico Restrepo) made from an eclectic mix of materials – soft fabrics, hard metals – in a wide variety of sizes…

Stage Buddy by Lackie Danziger

About the artist

LOCO7 productions utilize original rhythmic music, live musicians, dancers, body puppets and larger-than-life marionettes. Restrepo’s intense love and passion for the history of the Americas and his journeys in New York have been a constant source for all his work. Loco7 has premiered fifteen original pieces at La MaMa in New York City, with subsequent tours throughout the world. Most recently Loco7 premiered Undefined Fraction (2015), Seucy and Boto (2014-2015), Plunge (2013), Free Falling (2013), Urban Odyssey (2012), In Retrospect (2010), Room To Panic (2008), Open Door (2006), Bokan – the Bad Hearted (2004), 9 Windows (2002), Colores (1998), Aguirre, the Spiral of the Warrior (1996), Cosecha (1990), Loco7 (1989) and two other Gotham fantasies: Locombia (1986), Carrera (1988). In addition Loco7 premiered in Bogotá, Colombia, Piratas de Papel (1994) and Mobile Urbano (1986).