Don Quixote

Mix 16th-Century music with rap, add in some juggling, liberal doses of puns, combat with various folks including giants claiming to be windmills, and you have a strange mix of entertainment at the Lyceum Stage by San Diego Repertory Theater. Paul Magid's Don Quixote is all of this and much more. It's at times silly, at times serious, with a delightful mix of music.

Resident artistic director Sam Woodhouse has taken on an extremely challenging work. It is an ongoing political satire as well as a reminder that Miguel de Cervantes created a strange, yet charming character named Don Quixote de la Mancha. In this version DQ (Peter Van Norden), as he is often referred to, rides a full-size, 28-inch wheel tricycle complete with trash can-lid shield and eggbeater-tipped lance. Sidekick Sancho Panza (Willie G) rides a regulation-sized trike, many sizes too small for him.

Playwright Magid plays Moor Cidi Hamete Benengeli (CD for short). CD, who takes credit for creating DQ, plans on simply narrating the story, then sitting back and letting the action take over. Alas, he gets involved with the players and becomes a part of the action.

Don Quixote opens with the cast, in elegant period costumes, bringing music to the stage with a broad range of instruments. The cast depart while two of the musicians retire to their stage-left bandbox. CD begins his narrative and goes to his stage-right box to observe the unfolding of his tale.

Soon The Flying Karamazov Brothers begin their juggling act. Honestly, it's all part of the narrative! The two musicians (Gregg Moore and Fred Lanuza), who also play a couple of characters, create the beat for the juggling. Occasionally a miss causes a light plastic pin to fall into the audience, who get into the act by returning the pins to the stage with fervor.

Don Quixote is a political satire. How deep is the friendship between DQ, a Christian, and CD, a Moor? It is also a whimsy. Magid is a master of the pun, referring to DQ's love of quest, fights, and his trusty lance as a "lance-a-lot." He word plays even on the term Moor. A scene of vegetable puppetry using a villainous eggplant in mortal combat with a leek riding a carrot horse is laced with vegetable word punning, which gets totally out of hand. The audience moans with amusement.

Jennifer Brawn Gittings' costumes are great. Nick Fouch's scenic design works well, as does Jennifer Setlow's creative lighting and M. Scott Grabau's effective sound. Javier Velasco provides some interesting choreography. Jamie Newcomb and Stephen Morgan-MacKay have created some amusing fight sequences.

The supporting cast of Michael Preston, Jasper Patterson, Jennifer Miller, and Suzy Hernandez Peredo play a vast array of characters. They are a joy to watch.

Don Quixote is a work in progress and has had many changes since its opening two weeks ago. There will certainly be more before the February 4th, 2007 final performance.

Act I moves with lightning speed as does the beginning of Act II. However, the act takes forever to end. Perhaps director Woodhouse and Playwright Magid felt it was necessary to tie up every loose end. In so doing, they extended the second act nearly fifteen minutes beyond the end of the story.