through his imagination, pirandello makes his chosen profession his clay and with it molds his play within a play. he contrasts light with shadow. he populates his stage with the working elements of his craft: words, ideas, actions and directors, characters, actors. his play stands as a complete metaphor for the conflict between the real and the unreal. it illustrates the fragile transcending nature of the illusion of reality. over 300 years ago shakespeare's aging philosopher, prospero, concluded, "our revels now are ended. "these our actors, as i foretold you, "were all spirits, and are melted into air, "into thin air: and, like the baseless fabric of this vision "the cloud-capped towers the gorgeous palaces "the solemn temples, the great globe itself "yea, all which it inherit shall dissolve "and, like this insubstantial pageant faded, "leave not a rack behind. "we are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep." this was a coproduction of miami-dade community llege and british broadcasting corporation british open university. captioning performed by a