Don Quixote Rides Again
★★★★☆ Entertaining classic
Scottish Storytelling Centre (Venue 30): 14-16 August 2024
Review by Marion Geoffray
Commissioned by the Scottish Storytelling Centre for their International festival last autumn, Don Quixote Rides Again, directed by Jelena Bašic, returns to its original home for the Fringe.
Spanish storyteller Inés Álvarez Villa, accompanied by fellow countryman and flamenco artist, Danielo Olivera, create an entertaining and condensed retelling of Cervantes’ masterpiece that packs a punch.
Danielo Olivera and Inés Álvarez. Pic: Scottish Storytelling Centre.
A golden light bathes the auditorium, while Olivera creates a vision of the dry plains and sunny mountains of La Mancha with his guitar and voice. As Álvarez Villa takes centre stage, we immediately embark with her, ride or die, alongside Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, on their famous adventures complete with windmills, giants, castles and ladylove.
Inés Álvarez Villa is playful and expressive as she dusts off the epic tale of chivalry with plenty of humour and physicality. She moves through the story with a certain reverence for the character that is especially touching.
Both performers are very generous with their talents and perfectly complement each other’s performances. While one incorporates handpicked Spanish words into her delivery, the other enhances his with rhythmic tunes that accentuates the musicality of their mother tongue. Olivera’s music is not just a score but a dialogue that punctuates Álvarez Villa’s storytelling with tension.
multi-layered narrative
Bašic’s direction is well paced for such a rich and multi-layered narrative. The use of coloured flashes to highlight key physical actions such as fights in the story, is particularly clever, creating an almost cartoonish effect.
There is comfort and joy in listening to a well-known story, with each retelling shining a new light on it. Don Quixote is not just a mad man, he’s an ordinary man with an ordinary life who simply wants to make it extraordinary. There lies the power of great stories, to bring magic into everyday life. So, here’s hoping Don Quixote continues to ride again for many more dates to come.
Running time: One hour (no interval)
Scottish Storytelling Centre (Netherbow Theatre), 43 High Street, EH1 1SR (Venue 30)
Wednesday 31 July – Friday 16 August 2024
Even dates in August only: 5pm.
Details and tickets: Book here
Facebook: @ines.alvarez.1614
Instagram: @inesalvarezstoryteller
ENDS
