How do you translate a Seventeenth Century Spanish classic, a book with more than 800 pages, into a Fringe play? According to David Cottis’ adaptation, you strip the story down to its most basic and recognizable features, assemble a funny (if not amazing) cast that gives their all, and you present it as a minimalist stage show lasting about an hour and twenty minutes. This is no in-depth, faithful, page by page version of the book, but more of a friendly homage to it.
If you aren’t aware of the story, Don Quixote is an slightly deranged old man who thinks himself to be a medieval knight. He goes in search of his lost love, Dulcinea, a woman that doesn’t really exist, and on the way he fights windmills (thinking they are giants) and lions and is wounded by make-believe knights.
Charles Neville’s characterisation of Don Quixote is flawless, not only spiritually but physically. The rest of the cast, each one playing various roles, are also quite amusing. It is a pity that A.J. Barry’s Sancho Panza (Quixote’s companion and the book’s comedy relief) is too overacted and slightly camp. His lines, though funny, get lost in a web of exaggerated mannerisms.
Worth noting are the set and the props, which add to the surrealism of the story - Don Quixote might be crazy, but so is the audience by accepting a tricycle as a donkey or a leather jacket as a medieval costume. These props and costumes should jar, but, amazingly, they perfectly blend into the story and the imagination of the audience.
Overall, this not the greatest adaptation of this classic but it is an enjoyable one.
3/5
Adrian G. Velazquez
