Manipulate: Don Quixote (is a Very Big Book)

In his new one-man show, Dik Downey (Green Ginger, Pickled Image, Opposable Thumb) weaves together the crazed delusions of Don Quixote with his own struggle against reality. With a rogue’s gallery of puppets and desperate clowning, Dik’s Quixote embarks on surreal, comic misadventures, accompanied by his wisecracking sidekick, Sancho Panza, and his decrepit horse, Rocinante.

While Dik fights to make his retelling of this huge novel joyous to a contemporary audience, we see something else – Dik’s refusal to yield to the passing of time. As Quixote chases his impossible dreams of glory, Dik faces his own dwindling relevance and his mortality.

This international co-production from the company that made Coulrophobia, a “truly fabulous showcase of clowning and puppetry skills” (Total Theatre), blends laugh-out-loud moments with mad reflections on the joys and indignities of growing old and fighting against the inevitable.

Photo credit: Andre Pattenden

The Traverse Theatre is funded by Creative Scotland and The City of Edinburgh Council.

Coulrophobia Reviews

★★★★★ “A non-stop riot of a show... a complete pleasure to watch as it moves seamlessly from the sinister to the touching, to the outright hilarious” - Stage Talk Magazine

★★★★★ “Adam and Dik are modern-day lords of misrule. Enough subversive humour to please the most cynical of theatregoers…a perfect display of how good contemporary clowning can be.” - Bristol 24/7

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