Lookingglass Theatre: Circus Quixote
Michel Rodríguez Cintra
Lookingglass Theatre Presents CIRCUS QUIXOTE Review - Take An Epic Tale and Make It More Epic
TLDR: Lookingglass Theatre puts together their adaptation of Miguel Cervantes’ Don Quixote with their newest show, Circus Quixote, that incorporates their signature circus tricks, aerial arts, and acrobatics. The props and set design capture this whimsical and larger than life feeling and the cast brings it all together with humor and style.
Eduardo Martinez
Lookingglass Creates An Epic Tale
A giant soldier looms over the castle wall….
Giants spin a windmill round and round….
Lurking behind the window, a glowing yellow eye….
We’re about to enter a medieval world where these dangerous, fictional creatures exist alongside knights and chivalry. Or at least they do in Don Quixote’s mind. In Lookingglass Theatre’s adaptation of Miguel Cervante’s Don Quixote, they take us on his journey across the land as he searches for wrongs that need righting.
Lookingglass Theatre makes us believe that something epic is happening, sometimes without even showing us what it is. The rocking chair becomes Don Quixote’s trusty steed. Walls open up to reveal caverns inside. Even though we only see one giant glowing eye moving from window to window, there very well may be a huge dragon hidden behind the wall.
It’s amazing how big they can make this world feel, even in just a normal midsize theater. There aren’t any large set pieces changing and moving that make us believe we’re moving through this world. Everything is created by the cast moving around on stage and a few choice props and puppets.
Eduardo Martinez, Michel Rodríguez Cintra and Laura Murillo Hart
Add in Signature Acrobatics
What would a Lookingglass show be without their signature acrobatics. Actors climb ten foot tall polls and slide back down effortlessly. Laura Murillo as Don Quixote’s love interest, Dulcinea, serenades him with her enchanting voice as she performs in an aerial hoop.
When Don Quixote faces the Queen of the Serpents, he dives beneath the waves of the lake and encounters Ayana Strutz. Dressed in all green, she writhes on aerial ribbons enclosed in a circle of ropes hanging down from the ceiling.
And epic battles take place on swinging poles as Michel Rodríguez Cintra and Micah Figueroa perform in perfect synchrony, mirroring each other as they fight.
Those are just a small sample of the aerial arts and acrobatics the cast performs that have our eyes glued to the stage. At every stage of the journey, they incorporate some form of movement from ribbons, to tumbling, to unicycles.
Julian Hester and Ayana Strutz
Humor Blends Into the Tall Tale
The tone of the show is adventure led by Don Quixote himself, played by Michel Rodríguez Cintra. Cintra leaps and bounds across the stage with his newly found youthful spirit. He charges ahead, throwing caution to the wind and not worried about any consequences, certain that knights will always be victorious like his books have told him. But what wins us over more than his unwavering confidence, is the over the top humor he delivers with every line.
The rest of the cast follows suit as they break the fourth wall, throw in some modern day humor, and find their comedic beats to have us laughing and enjoying the silliness.
Micah Figueroa steps out onto the top of the castle and stands mightily looking down at Don Quixote. He is a French knight, everything that Don Quixote wants to be. He acts in an over the top haughtiness, reminding us of the knights from Monty Python.
Eddie Martinez switches with ease between narrator and Don Quixote’s trusty companion and squire, Sancho. He is the perfect foil to Don Quixote as he lives more grounded in reality, but still hits those comedic punches with sarcasm and wit.
And when you put the rest of Don Quixote’s household together in an attempt to bring him back home, Julian Hestermaster, Andrea San Miguel, and Ayana Strutz form a delightfully bumbling trio.
Laura Murillo Hart
The After Party Thoughts
I was truly amazed at how Lookingglass created this epic journey. It’s fantastical in every element of its design from the costumes, to the puppets, to the props, to the over the top comedic acting from the players.
At the heart of Circus Quixote though, after all is said and done, the giants are vanquished and the dragons slain, there’s this call to do good in the world. To make us feel like I’d much rather stay true to myself, see good in the world, and to try and do better, even if that means living in a little bit of delusion for a bit. So while Don Quixote sinks back into reality, his faithful sidekick Sancho and writer of the story, Cervantes, see the world as it could be.
Circus Quixote leaves us with a little bit of wonder and hope. It would be a good fit for those that love comedies, tales of epic proportions and shows that incorporate aerial arts.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Michel Rodríguez Cintra
When
Now through March 30, 2025
Where
Water Tower Water Works
163 E Pearson St.
Chicago, IL 60611
Runtime: 2hrs 30min, including a 15min intermission
Tickets
$30+
Tickets can be purchased through the Lookingglass Theatre website
Photos
Joe Mazza/brave lux
CAST
Michel Rodríguez Cintra (Don Quijada/Don Quixote)
Micah Figueroa (Sanson Carrasco)
Julian Hestermaster (Nicolas)
Eddie Martinez (Cervantes/Sancho)
Laura Murillo (Harthousekeeper/Dulcinea)
Andrea San Miguel (Antonia)
Ayana Strutz (Sister Sofia)
CREATIVE
David Catlin (Co-Writer And Director)
Kerry Catlin (Co-Writer And Associate Director)
Sylvia Hernandez-Distasi (Circus And Movement Choreographer)
Courtney O’neill (Scenic Designer)
Daphne Agosin (Lighting Designer)
Sully Ratke (Costume Designer)
Grover Hollway (Sound Designer)
Kevin O’donnell (Composer)
Amanda Herrmann (Props Supervisor)
Lee Brasuell (Rigging Designer
Grace Needlman (Puppet Designer)
Helen Lattyak (Stage Manager)
Aaron Mceachran (Assistant Stage Manager)