Only in Dreams is a play that students have only ever dreamed of doing- literally. The show–devised by students and written as an ensemble–plays out as a series of scenes pulled directly from the dreams of the cast. In one dream, a girl loses track of her parents and desperately searches for them in a crowd of apathetic strangers. In another, a character tries to find a way out of a maze full of animals. Some scenes represent the fear and anxiety of a nightmare, while others feel just as serene and colorful as a good night’s rest.
Only in Dreams has been so much fun to perform. Everybody has their own dreams and special part of the show and a lot of people have worked hard on it.
Leili Singer ’26
Before rehearing each day, the cast stands in a circle to share a “good” and a “bad” from their day. This exercise is representative of the entire creative process behind Only in Dreams, as it shows the immense amount of trust and care that students have developed with one another. This trust is shared not only between the cast and crew, but also with the director of the show, Jesse Garlick (who attended Beaver himself in Middle School!). “The entire process has been super fun,” actor Jamie Hagerty ’27 states. “Our director is really great, he makes sure to tell us the good and the bad and always reinforces takeaways at the end of the day.”
The magic of Only in Dreams doesn’t just happen on stage. Behind the scenes, an incredible team of student technicians have been hard at work. For Charlie Scott ’29, the show marks a transition from working in Middle School productions to Upper School ones; “I’ve been having fun and it’s a lot of work. We have a month less to work than we did in the Middle School.” One of Scott’s favorite parts of the production process has been assembling and arranging the various stars that hang over the set.
We opted for a more minimalist, light and airy direction. We have hanging stars and a moon. We rely a lot on the actors to create the feel of the set.
-Charlie Scott ’29
For at least one of the actors in Only in Dreams, the show has been a chance to try something entirely new. “The show has been great,” Kiernan Collins ’29 says. “I was a stage manager for other shows, so it’s different being the person people are staring at on stage instead of behind the scenes.” Kiernan mentions his excitement around playing multiple characters, something each actor is tasked with doing in the show. Every dream warrants a new cast of characters, requiring actors to jump from one persona to the next, changing up accents and characterizations at an incredible speed.
Only in Dreams is something you’ll never see outside of Beaver. There are interesting set pieces, unique costumes for the actors, and it’s a really nice show.
-Kiernan Collins ’29
Only in Dreams debuts at Beaver on Thursday, January 25 at 7 p.m., with additional showings Friday, January 26 and Saturday, January 27. You can buy tickets to the show here.