Royal Shakespeare Company's Don Quixote, Garrick Theatre review ★★★★★

To mark the 400th anniversary of Miguel de Cervantes’ death in 2016, the Royal Shakespeare Company commissioned James Fenton to adapt the Spanish writer’s most famous work for the stage. Now two years later, it hits the West End at the Garrick Theatre with the majority of the original cast reappearing. Led by David Threlfall as the knight-errant and Rufus Hound as his squire Sancho Panza, Don Quixote is a fun and playful epic that bubbles over with imagination, but is less successful in staging the poignancy of Cervantes’ masterpiece.

Puppetry, dance, and song are all devices used to bring Quixote’s wandering adventures to life. Particularly shining moments include the terrifying Lion Quixote encounters (Tom McCall) and the infamous windmill giants. Little pepperings of audience participation, including a bun-laden battle, are led by Hound’s Sancho, who excellently draws both young and older into the story.

Don Quixote from the original 2016 production at the Swan Theatre Photo by Helen Maybanks © RSC

Fenton’s adaptation does good work to condense the original text, but be prepared: this sprawling saga is still lengthy at just under three hours. And although the ensemble is polished and full of verve, certain scenes in the second act lag a litte. While Grant Olding and Fenton’s music adds another element of storytelling, it’s hard not to think of the famous songs from the other Don Quixote-inspired musical Man of La Mancha.

That being said, Don Quixote is at its best in moments of joy. These extend past Hound and Threlfall, whose performances are excellent. Many of the funniest bits come from McCall as Quixote’s horse, or Richard Dempsey and Ruth Everett as the flamboyant Duke and Duchess.

Perhaps this adaptation falls short articulating the beauty of quixotic dreaming, with more attention given to the burlesque nature of Cervantes’ novel. Nevertheless, Don Quixote is still an entertaining adaptation that shows even in what is omitted the vastness and depth of Cervantes’ masterpiece.