Do you know the tale of the nobleman from La Mancha who wanted to seek chivalrous adventures? Of course you do! The dreamer, the idealist, the blind believer in the victory of good over evil – this is Don Quixote, one of the most recognisable heroes of all time. The one who fought against windmills. The one who chose the beautiful Dulcinea as the lady of his heart. The one who was accompanied on his adventures by Sancho Panza. The one who... Well, what was it actually like with these stories? Is Don Quixote a true misguided knight or a man gone mad?

Jakub Roszkowski, author of the adaptation and director of the play, searches for Cervantes’ characters in a hospital ward whose corridors lack neither humour nor vigour. In the world of the misguided patients, the game is not about proving the virtues of chivalry, but about being able to live on one’s own terms and being free. Above all, however, in keeping with the Spanish original, what is at stake here is the search for love and acceptance.

Jakub Roszkowski’s Don Quixote is an intriguing, coherent and reflective play in which laughter alternates with sadness. The concept of locating the action in a geriatric ward is not obvious, but very apt. The director treats the audience to an emotional rollercoaster. And although we laugh at Anna Kadulska’s situational jokes and watch the patients’ adventures, giggling under our breath, after the finale we leave the room full of reverie, and the performance itself will resonate in us for a long time to come.

Magdalena Mikrut-Majeranek, teatrologia.info

Scenes of slow and boring hospital life are juxtaposed with Don Quixote’s phantasmagorical adventures that happen in his head, because everything happens in the head. It is there, in the head, that an IV stand can turn into a sword, a wheelchair into a horse. The imaginary, drug-induced world sparkles with colour and costumes, as if from a dell`arte comedy. Is it the hospital staff, the patient and Don Quixote’s daughter who make his life interesting, or is it him who lets them follow his imagination?

Marta Fox, martafox.pl

Language: Polish (English subtitles)

After the evening performance a meeting with the creators will be held.

Cast

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