The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Samson, Polly. A Theater for Dreamers. First Edition. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2021. Hardcover.

Samson begins her 30-chapter novel with Erica as an elderly woman on Hydra, ruminating on her experience on the island in the 1960s in the past tense. The story is thus framed as a fictional memoir of an elderly Erica remembering her youth. Erica briefly recounts her life in her birthplace, London, before she moved to Hydra. She remembers her mother’s death and her father’s domineering personality, portraying London as a place solely of sorrow. Erica recalls how she wrote to her mother’s friend, the writer Charmian Clift, who invited her to Hydra. This prompted her to leave London with her brother, Bobby, and her boyfriend, Jimmy Jones. Erica has a concise memory of a frantic and rapid journey through Europe to Hydra, where nearly the rest of the novel is set chronologically in the present tense. In many ways, Erica is more of a witness to the development of other characters than she is herself an evolving character.

Erica quickly becomes enamored with the people and lifestyle on Hydra. She meets Charmian’s husband, the writer George Johnston. The next few chapters depict Erica’s first few weeks on Hydra, living with Charmian. She meets Charmian’s family and other artists, including Leonard (who is only near the end of the novel identified explicitly as Leonard Cohen), Axel Jensen, Jean-Claude Maurice and other people who develop into minor characters. Erica says she wants to be a writer, but quickly assumes domestic responsibilities for her friends. In these early days on Hydra, Erica forms an impression of the marriage between Charmian and George, finds a maternal figure in Charmian, and notices sexual tension developing between members of the artistic community.

Erica is eventually introduced to Marianne Ihlen, Axel Jensen’s wife, who appears to accept his known promiscuity. Marianne often tends to her newborn and is supportive of Axel, despite his abusive behavior. Erica’s perspective of Marianne’s life characterizes her as a domestic caretaker more than an artist. Erica continues to watch the lives of those around her and finds herself unable to write or be productively creative. In the next few chapters, Erica’s relationship with Bobby becomes strained, she witnesses the effect of Axel’s abuse on Marianne, and generally begins to have misgivings about Hydra as summer begins.

The novel progresses in a seemingly static manner for many of the middle chapters; generally, the characters are simply getting drunk. This demonstrates how the reality of life on Hydra differs from Erica’s expectations of it being an idyllic bohemia of creativity. The main development during these chapters is the formation of Marianne’s relationship with Leonard, the increasing strain on Charmian’s marriage to George, and Erica’s growing weariness of life on Hydra. Much of the novel is comprised of Erica’s conversations with Charmian about balancing maternal duties and creative pursuits. Erica also observes the promiscuous tendencies within Charmian’s group of friends. Consequently, Erica’s perspective of life on Hydra highlights the impact gender has on the characters’ ability to create art. The novel’s pace changes when Erica discovers that Jimmy has been having an affair. After this, her perspective of life on Hydra becomes increasingly bleak. She concludes her present-tense portrayal of life on Hydra with her memory of saying goodbye to Charmian as she and her family leave the island.

In the final chapters, Erica reflects in the past tense on her life after that first summer on Hydra. She remembers how she met Charmian coincidentally in London about a year after they had both left Hydra. Erica was pregnant by then and was living with a writer, which alarmed Charmian. They discussed motherhood and Erica reflects that Charmian had fulfilled a maternal role in her life during her summer on Hydra. Years after this chance encounter in London, Erica went back to Hydra and coincidentally encountered Marianne. Marianne informed Erica that George had just died, and that Charmian committed suicide the prior summer. The final chapter of the novel is like the prelude, featuring Erica’s thoughts in the present tense on Hydra, where she has lived the remainder of her life since her first return there. She reflects on the maternal presence Charmian offered her, and the daughterly presence she offered Charmian.