November 2, 2026 | General, Theatre,

What are Dreams?

Have you ever woken up from a dream that changed your worldview, brought back a buried memory, or made you question your future? With our next show, Dream Feed, exploring the depths of the subconscious mind through a hypnotic theatrical journey, we chose to go on a search for answers from contrasting viewpoints to answer a single question with no definite answer: What are dreams?

Dreams as Science

Even when you’re asleep, your brain is wide awake. Specific regions of the brain work to maintain vital functions, monitoring your circadian rhythm, flushing out cellular waste left behind from daily brain activity and more. During this night shift, the hippocampus, the memory storage region of your brain, works overtime; it processes, organizes and transfers the day’s events into long-term storage. This process, in tandem with the activation of the thalamus, which controls sensory perception, and the amygdala, which plays a part in relaying emotions, contribute to the creation of dreams. While some scientists argue that dreams are just a ‘byproduct’ of the brain’s resetting system and don’t serve any particular purpose, modern studies suggest that dreams do serve a biological purpose in creating ‘threat simulators’ to prepare the body for certain events and help regulate emotional distress. So, in a sense, dreams can help you face your fears! Or at least prepare you for the outcome.

Dreams as Mediator

For thousands of years, religions and spiritual ideologies across cultures have had their own interpretations of what dreams are, what they mean, and how to respond to them. In traditional Yoruba, dreams are spiritual journeys that connect the metaphysical realm with the inner subconscious, where ancestors and deities can interact with a person and provide warnings or guidance. In Islam, dreams are divided into different categories depending on who they’re perceived to be from. Joyful or pleasant dreams are believed to come from Allah, and are encouraged to be shared with other people and provide a sense of security, while nightmares come from Shaytaan or the devil, and cannot be shared with other people and require prayer. Through religion, we see how dreams could be perceived as omens that predict future events or make us face our past.

Dreams as Muse

The surrealist art movement, which originated in Europe shortly after World War I, explored the unconscious mind and produced some of the most important figures in art history. Salvador Dali, the Spanish painter perceived as the poster child for surrealist art, created intricate, logic-defying images with a photographic precision that awakened curiosity and subliminal emotions in his audiences. Although his pieces were often layered with interpretations and even optical illusion that created a sort of ‘double picture’, he famously denied providing any explanation for any of his paintings, arguing that it would defeat the purpose of projecting the subconscious state. The surrealist art movement also produced other renowned names in the artistic world, such as Joan Miró, René Margrite, Marc Chagall and Frida Kahlo, who, with their own distinct artistic signatures, created their own definition of what the subconscious mind is or could be.

Dream Feed runs in the  NOV 19—22 in the Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre at the Emerson Paramount Center.