Theatre REVIEW: Don Quixote (is a Very Big Book!) - ★★★★

Mix Up Theatre (Stewart)
1 day ago
2 min read

In his new one-man show, Dik Downey (Green Ginger, Pickled Image, Opposable Thumb) weaves together the crazed delusions of Don Quixote with his own struggle against reality.

With a rogue’s gallery of puppets and desperate clowning, Dik’s Quixote embarks on surreal, comic misadventures, accompanied by his wisecracking sidekick, Sancho Panza, and his decrepit horse, Rocinante.

While Dik fights to make his retelling of this huge novel joyous to a contemporary audience, we see something else – Dik’s refusal to yield to the passing of time. As Quixote chases his impossible dreams of glory, Dik faces his own dwindling relevance and his mortality.

This international co-production from the company that made Coulrophobia, a “truly fabulous showcase of clowning and puppetry skills” (Total Theatre), blends laugh-out-loud moments with mad reflections on the joys and indignities of growing old and fighting against the inevitable.

Where?

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh - Part of Manipulate Arts festival

WEBSITE

Stewart - ★★★★

"A very funny one-man show as Downey takes on the epic scope of the classic novel, Don Quixote. The show itself is a bit of a metaphor for artists taking on projects and not managing to complete them. At the beginning of the show Downey has a nice bit of comic banter with the audience and talks through film director Terry Gilliam's attempts to bring the novel to the screen.

Downey then explains that he will now attempt to create the book and does so with a brilliant performance that includes much puppetry, audience interaction (I was pulled on stage to play the king by the way ha) and lots of laughs along the way.

Very likeable and a lot fun, you don't need to know too much about the book itself but judging by this wonderful show - maybe it's a case of the stage adaptation is better than the book!?!"