Seattle Rep debuted its first play of the new year this weekend at Bagley Wright Theatre with an outstanding production of Quixote Nuevo. Written by playwright Octavio Solis, this play is a bold modern remix of Miguel de Cervantes’ 17th-century literary masterpiece, Don Quixote, an epic story of an old man’s quest for love and fight against reality. Solis’ contemporary adaptation fully grasps the stakes and scale of Cervantes’ original work, claiming the world as its own on the stage. With Lisa Portes’ direction, Quixote Nuevo is positively brought to life, conjuring the spirit of Cervantes’ original work, while retaining its own unique life and rhythm. Quixote Nuevo commands the stage, reminding audiences what it means to be epic.
Cervantes’ original work, fully titled Don Quixote de la Mancha, was first published in Spain in 1605 and became an immediate success worldwide. His story follows Alonso Quixano, a senile old man living out his dreams of being a knight named Don Quixote. He enlists his neighbor, Sancho Panza, to become his squire and help him in his search for his long-lost imaginary love, Dulcinea. On their journey, the two battle the forces of reality and fiction as they search not only for love but meaning.
Quixote Nuevo follows this story fairly closely but with significant mediations. In Solis’ remix, it is Jose Quijano, a retired Cervantes’ professor battling dementia, who, prompted by the scary prospects of assisted living, runs away from his home on the Texas border to become the valiant knight Don Quixote and fight for his own lost Dulcinea. He similarly recruits his neighbor, Manny Diaz, to be his Sancho and look after him. While their families search desperately for the missing pair, together Manny and Jose battle border patrol, drones, skeletons, the elements, and their minds as they try to make sense of their world.
The set design, led by Efren Delgadillo Jr., captures the wonder of this chaotic world well. The dynamic boulders and mountains against the colorful sky were so breathtaking they almost felt real. The lighting designer, Pablo Santiago, deserves much of the credit for bringing this gorgeous set to life. I loved the bold colors and dynamic nature of the lighting, which made the world feel at once mystical and real. The coordination with the sound design by David R. Molina was superb. Together, they situated the audience in the mind of the protagonist, revealing the borders around his world and our own, as well as the endless overlap between them.
Molina was also the composer of this play, producing a captivating and lively score of Tejano music. Quixote Nuevo is so jam-packed with music that it borders on being an actual musical. Be warned if that’s not your thing, but keep in mind that the music will just as likely blow you away. The chorus scenes quickly became some of my favorite elements of the play, especially with Marissa Herrera’s choreography. Additionally, Jesse Sanchez’s music direction clearly understood the mood and pacing of the story; no song felt unnecessary or misplaced, but always helped move the action along.
That certainly speaks to the general direction by Lisa Portes, as well. Overall, Quixote Nuevo is very well-paced. Though the runtime is over two hours long, the play flies by without feeling too rushed. The way one scene flowed into the next felt natural but not necessarily overly predictable. In that way, Portes’ direction really captured the nature of the epic: Quixote and Sancho are always moving from one place to the next, making the world seem huge and their journey daunting as the desert seems to stretch eternally before them. It left me on the edge of my seat wondering what misadventure they would fall into next.
A great deal of this excitement was definitely due to the charisma of the performances. Herbert Siguenza who played Quijano/Quixote truly understood the heart and soul of this story and his character’s role in it. He is immediately captivating with his opening monologue, inviting the audience to try and understand this character. In many ways, Siguenza’s performance forces you to by way of its sheer compassion and emotional nuance. He reveals how human Quijano’s struggle is and how relevant his desire. By the end of the play, you can’t help but want to see the world through his eyes.
But if Siguenza’s moving performance as Quijano doesn’t immediately win you over, Ernie Gonzalez Jr. as Manny absolutely will. Though he plays the sidekick, Gonzalez steals the show. He has some of the funniest lines in the entire play and never misses a comedic beat. He grasps not only the humor of his character but of the production overall. Solis’ witty writing and creative bilingual wordplay deserve much of the credit as well, of course, but I can’t imagine anyone better than Gonzalez to perform them. He was the perfect Sancho to Siguenza’s Quixote. Their chemistry was delightful to witness and never made for a dull moment anytime they were together.
Alicia Coca as Juana/Rosario was also quite funny. She was a nice addition to the ensemble as Juana with her grating voice and mannerisms, and was a lot of fun as Rosario with her sassy chola accent. Sol Castillo gave a pleasant performance as Padre Perez as well with even a few lines that made me laugh out loud. I similarly found Maya Malan-Gonzalez as Dr. Campos agreeable. She was great as the voice of reason among the ensemble. As Dulcinea, Malan-Gonzalez stood out even more. Though the use of puppets surprised me at first, I still found her performance incredibly charming and kind-hearted, which quickly won me over. Lakin Valdez also made use of his puppet well. He captured the anxieties, hopes, and dreams of Young Quijano in a way that felt believable and sympathetic—even if his puppet was a bit more unsettling at times. Valdez equally delivered a lot of humor and charisma in his performance as Bruno.
Viviana Garza had a lovely warmth to her performance as Antonia. It was easy to empathize with her and her love for her tío Jose. As Inez, Garza was less charming but more hilarious, capturing the attitudes of a self-involved teenager well. Similarly, Laura Crotte played the perfect conflicted and caring sister as Magdalena. She was also quite funny as the unpredictable knife-wielding Perla in the karaoke bar. Finally, Raul Cardona had a commanding stage presence as both Cardenio and Papa Calaca. His performance as Cardenio was emotionally thrilling, forcing you to hold your breath and drink in his monologue. As Papa Calaca, his performance was subtle but his allure was overwhelming. It was hard not to take your eyes off him, as if he possessed the same enchantments as his character.
A big part of that magic was also the brilliant costuming by Helen Q. Huang. Every costume made sense to the character and their scenes, yet Huang was not afraid to make bold decisions either. There were beautiful dresses and leather suits, as well as a feathered headdress and calaca (skull) masks and costumes. Her costumes are part of what made the chorus scenes so stellar, in particular. The variety among them, including the additional heads and arms, and detailed mask designs, was beyond impressive. I even loved that the stagehands wore their own calaca costumes. Similarly, the coordination with many of the props by Delgadillo blew me away. There are some smaller elements that are simple yet clever, as well as some elements that feel larger than life. There were multiple moments during the play that gave me chills because I felt them reaching beyond the stage, both literally and figuratively.
Thematically, that’s what this play is all about—reaching beyond the limits of our reality in search of connection. Quijano would rather live in the fantastical world of fiction than face the harsh conditions of estrangement he is forced to feel every day. Many see him as trying to run away from his problems, but his desire to live in a better world is more than admirable—it’s relatable. But unlike many of us, Quijano is not afraid to live his truth, even if it challenges the truth we’re expected to accept.
Quixote Nuevo thus asks us to question the borders of our reality and what those borders say about us. It recognizes the connection between the wall along the Texas/Mexican border and the walls around the aging in assisted living facilities; the walls we place between the present and the past and the emotional walls we hide behind; the wall between reality and fiction, between the audience and the stage; and the thin wall separating life and death itself. Quixote Nuevo doesn’t pretend to have all the answers because sometimes life only ends with a question. Go see the play for yourself if you want to discover what.
Quixote Nuevo Bagley Wright Theatre in Uptown, 155 Mercer St, Seattle, WA 98109. January 19-February 11, 2024. Wed-Fri 7:30 PM. Sat 2 PM and 7:30 PM. Sun 12 Pm and 5:30 PM. Select dates offer Spanish captioning, ASL interpretation, and mask-required performances. Tickets and information: https://www.seattlerep.org/plays/202324-season/quixote-nuevo/