Don Quixote (Is a Very Big Book)
Presented in association with DOCA – Devizes Outdoor Community Arts
Dik Downey’s attempt to stage every page of Cervantes’ novel is inventive fun – and bonkers!
After a brief rest (hopefully), having concluded a month-long show this August at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Dik Downey brings the show to Devizes and the intimate surroundings of The Wharf for one night only. Strap in for a comic romp through the meaty tome of Don Quixote which raises questions for all of us about the meaning of life and our quest for betterment.
“There is a moment shortly before the end of Dik Downey’s absolutely bonkers, totally loveable assault on Cervantes’ novel when he suddenly realises that he only has 10 minutes to go and there are still 800 pages of the book to get through. Don Quixote is indeed a very big book and Downey’s attempt to stage it – clunking about in the 17kg armour he purchased off eBay – is of course every bit as deluded as Don Quixote’s own doomed quest.
But goodness there is a lot of clownish fun to enjoy along the way. Don Quixote’s decrepit horse, Rocinante, does a dressage routine to Ravel’s Bolero and the bald pate of a member of the audience serves as the animal’s salt lick. Three pairs of lips pinned to Downey’s chest stand in for the three generations of brilliantly mouthy women running the inn that Don Quixote visits.
This is a very merry show, but always an inventive one, too, celebrating its lack of resources as it asks questions about the impossible dreams we all have, but unlike Don Quixote – and Downey himself, who aged 63 is making his Edinburgh Fringe debut – never pursue.
It riffs too on professional jealousies, failure and how we measure our achievements. Is Downey’s split-second appearance in Terry Gilliam’s movie Brazil – only possible to spot if you freeze-frame the action at exactly eight minutes and 35 seconds – his highest attainment?
Downey asks what a life amounts to, and this appealingly silly and moving show is the answer.” – Review by Lyn Gardner – The Stage