‘Libro de los Sueños Olivados’ @ Ochre House Theater (w/ Dallas Flamenco Festival)
Photos by Trent Stephenson; show poster by Jeremy Word
—Jan Farrington
No, you needn’t understand Spanish for this bilingual show (though it would add to the fun). But having a thing for gorgeous flamenco, great guitar, off-kilter comedy—and the unexpected—that’s way more essential.
Ochre House Theater’s latest is an inventive collaboration with the 2025 Dallas Flamenco Festival, and brings back acclaimed dancers Antonio Arrebola and Delilah Buitrón Arrebola. As the king and queen of the Moon , they anchor the story of the mystical, magical “Book of Forgotten Dreams”—Libro de los Sueños Olivados—a new play penned and directed by Ochre House artistic director Matthew Posey.
The book of charms and spells has gone missing, and it’s left the universe at sixes and sevens. We find out the “who” eventually, and the “why” (as usual, it’s a yen for something you don’t have). But what’s to be done? Someone’s surely going to use that book while they can—and even the heavens can’t predict what might happen.
King Aragon and Queen Trianna are surrounded by constellations in all-too-human form: a pair of outlier sisters from the Pleiades (their five “cuter” siblings are off dancing). Maia (Quinn Coffman) and Electra (Lauren Claire Massey) are side-eyeing the constellation Castor (Rudy Lopez) and Pollux (Omar Padilla) and wishing they could be more like the lovers the two sisters are dreaming of. All four of these starry sidekicks are yearning, goofy, and hot to trot, though it’s hard to swallow that the guys can’t see past shower caps and eyeglasses to the sexy gals underneath. Clark Kent syndrome?
Fernando Hernandez and Ryan Matthieu Smith share design credit for the elaborate flamenco and amusing cast costumes. The set design and visuals are curvily Art Nouveau, with branches and tendrils, goat gods and mythological bit players projected on walls (scenic artist FX by Bobby Weiss, Justin Locklear, artist in residence—and set design by Posey).
From first moments to last, we’re treated to composer/guitarrista Calvin Hazen’s gorgeous, delicately filigreed guitar melodies, both as underscore and dance accompaniment. A longtime resident of Madrid, he comes from a background of study and mastery in Spain—and what a pleasure to watch him follow the dancers’ feet, and play in competing rhythms with singer Chayito Champion as Madre Cuervo/cantaora. (“Mama Raven’s” resonant voice fills the theater, and her clapping hands are another percussion instrument to be reckoned with.) The Arrebolas, impressive in their Ochre House appearance last year, seem even tighter, cleaner, more expressive this time—or maybe I’ve absorbed just enough about flamenco to recognize (if barely) their artistry.
While the stage fills up with comic chases, wisecracks, and general mayhem (courtesy of Posey’s especially clever script), we know what we’re waiting for: another dance by the Arrebolas, who move together with a mesmerizing, fierce, and somehow stately gravitas that keeps us leaning in, feeling the beats of the dance in our bones. Add Champion’s rich, sometimes wailing vocals and Hazen’s guitar, and I’d guess most of the opening night audience would happily have stayed ‘til the break of dawn, crying for more.
Don’t miss this one.
WHEN: November 6-13, 2025
WHERE 825 Exposition Avenue, Dallas
WEB: ochrehousetheater.org
