“CIRCUS QUIXOTE”: Performances are underway for “Circus Quixote.” Produced by Lookingglass Theatre Company in association with The Actors Gymnasium and written and directed by David and Kerry Catlin, with circus choreography by Sylvia Hernandez-Distasi, the play runs through March 15 at McCarter’s Matthews Theatre. Above, from left: Amadis de Gaula (Micah Figueroa), an idealized knight errant from literature read by Don Quixote (Michael Rodriguez Cintra), inspires the latter to undertake a series of exciting but imaginary quests. (Photo by T. Charles Erickson)
By Donald H. Sanborn III
McCarter is presenting Lookingglass Theatre Company’s production of Circus Quixote. As the title indicates, the show is a play mixed with music, puppetry, and the type of acrobatics that one might expect from a Cirque du Soleil extravaganza.
Balancing a full-length script and a circus is not without risks; the two genres could have worked at cross purposes with each other, or one could have overshadowed the other. In general, however, to the show’s credit the spectacle dazzles while existing in service to the story, characters, and themes.
Circus Quixote is loosely adapted from Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quijote of La Mancha. The script is deftly written and directed by David and Kerry Catlin, with exuberantly playful and energetic circus choreography by Sylvia Hernandez-Distasi (Austin Rambo is credited as Circus Captain).
Cervantes’ novel (originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615) portrays Alonso Quijano, a hidalgo (a member of the lowest rank of nobility) who becomes so immersed in reading numerous chivalric romances — in a memorable tableau, the play shows the character with a book placed over his head like a helmet — that he loses his mind (or at least his ability to distinguish fact from fiction) and decides to become a knight errant, Don Quijote.
Fundamentally, the eccentric protagonist assumes another identity — or, plays a role. As such, the story is naturally suited to live theater.
Previously the novel has been adapted into the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha (1965). That show explores, among other themes, the human need for storytelling and role-playing as relief from grim circumstances.
Circus Quixote, by contrast, depicts fantasy and reality as interdependent, and rather interchangeable. When Don Quijano (portrayed by Michael Rodriguez Cintra, who delivers a tour de force performance as the eccentric but debonair knight errant) assumes the identity of Don Quijote, those closest to him — despite their disdain for the stories that so enthrall his imagination — themselves must play a variety of fantasy characters in their repeated attempts to lure him home (and back to reality).
J Grover Hollway’s sound design enhances the notion of reality being a matter of perspective. We hear the roar of a dragon that Don Quijote believes exists, even if the other characters do not. Similarly, the Catlins’ staging breaks the fourth wall to let Don Quijote talk to members of the audience, whose presents is not believed or acknowledged by any other characters (at least not right away).
In addition to the interchangeability of fantasy and reality, the show also examines the symbiotic — and, at times, even adversarial — relationship between a storyteller and the characters he creates. Circus Quixote opens with contemplative guitar music (composed by Kevin O’Donnell), after which Cervantes (Eddie Martinez) wryly but gently begins narrating the story — and getting a bit of pointed disagreement with Don Quijano for the manner in which he does so.
The show’s use of physical humor is soon evident. When Don Quijano becomes Don Quijote, one of his first acts is to look for a horse. He leaps on the back of another character, to the understandable horror and indignation of those around him — including his niece, Antonia (Jacinda Ratcliffe) — before choosing a nearby chair to be his steed.
Cintra’s considerable skill as an acrobat becomes apparent in the famous scene in which Don Quijote tilts at the windmill. It might be more accurate to say that the windmill tilts the knight errant, as it spins him around as though he were on a carnival ride.
Circus Quixote generally follows several of the novel’s main story beats, despite the onstage Cervantes conspicuously skipping chapters. Arriving at an inn that he believes is a castle, Don Quijote asks the seedy innkeeper (Julian Hester) to knight him. The innkeeper does so in a double entendre-laden mock ceremony, to the amusement of two raucous girls of the inn (Ratcliffe and Olivia Lindsay).
The scene at the inn allows us to appreciate Courtney O’Neill’s set. It sufficiently evokes architecture of the period, while having the flexibility to represent exteriors of multiple buildings (and allow for stunts).
Later, the self-styled knight errant enlists Sancho Panza (Marinez, in a dual role) to be his squire. As the practical and long-suffering Panzo, Martinez delivers an artfully understated performance that is the right foil to the wildly impractical Don Quijote’s antics.
As in the novel, a central element of the plot is Don Quijote’s infatuation with Dulcinea (Laura Murillo Hart), whom he is determined to save from a wicked spell. Hart brings an exquisite singing voice, with which she graces O’Donnell’s haunting composition written for the character. Dulcinea’s scenes also are given some of Daphne Agosin’s most memorable lighting.
One of this writer’s favorite scene involves a walking puppet stage. The segment boasts Sully Ratke’s finest costume design (the outfit covers three performers); as well as Grace Needlman’s puppet design, and Hart’s dexterous puppetry. This show-within-a-show is both an entertaining highlight of the second act, and serves to further blur the lines between “reality” and stories.
During the (March 7, evening) performance I attended there was a second, very brief intermission necessitated by a technical issue; McCarter states in an email that it had to do with the winch (a device used to pull the cables that facilitate midair stunts). Fortunately, this was resolved fairly quickly.
At least from where I sat, a less disruptive, but more intermittent issue involves the (somewhat insufficient) amplification of the actors, some of whose dialogue I found a bit difficult to hear.
The cast is uniformly talented, with almost all of the actors playing multiple, often disparate roles. Micah Figueroa is a commanding presence as both Amadis de Guala, the knight archetype who inspires Don Quijano to want to become a knight errant; and conversely, Sansón Carrasco, who tries to lure Don Quijote home by challenging him to a duel. Similarly, Hester entertains as both Master Nicolas, who tries to curtail the title character’s delusions; and a Duke who uses them as fodder for pranks.
Lindsay brings a considerable gift for a variety of types of movement to the ensemble role of Sister Sofia. (The character does not appear in the novel, and it is tempting to surmise that the name is a wink at the name of the similarly-christened nun Sister Sophia in The Sound of Music.) Lindsay is particularly memorable as a Queen of the Serpents; and in an expressive dance with Hester (as Master Nicolás).
Early in the show there is a scene in which Don Quijano’s books about chivalry are burned. That, along with the disdain those closest to Don Quijano have for works related to the past, resonate in our time, as books (and works of the arts) are scrutinized for their alignment with various cultural values, and book bans are becoming more prominent in certain places.
It is a mark of the show’s ability to balance the circus and dialogue scenes that audiences can contemplate such themes while enjoying the vibrant, at times whimsical display of acrobatics and other performance elements.
Circus Quixote reminds us to revel in the telling of stories, through a variety of genres. The manner in which it does so could have been quixotic, but Lookingglass Theatre Company makes this quest successfully compelling and entertaining.
Lookingglass Theatre Company’s production of “Circus Quixote” will play at McCarter’s Matthews Theatre, 91 University Place, through March 15. For tickets, show times, and further information call (609) 258-2787 or visit mccarter.org.