By John Lyle Belden
“Take a deep breath of life and consider how it should be lived.”
These words spoken by Miguel de Cervantes as his creation Don Quixote in the musical “Man of La Mancha” help sum up the method behind the madness of the deluded knight at the center of the story – and is perhaps his most lucid advice.
Southbank Theatre Company and its founder, director Marcia Eppich-Harris, present the man, the madness, and the dangerous times in which this celebrated satirical novel came forth in their current production of the Broadway classic. Written in the 1960s by Dale Wasserman with music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Albert Marre, the story is loosely adapted from Cervantes’s 1605 book, portraying the author working through select scenes and characters in the more sweeping novel.
In the late 1500s, the dreaded Spanish Inquisition has arrested Cervantes (Paul Hansen), along with his servant (Anthony Nathan), not for a certain book he has yet to finish, or for being an actor or playwright, but because in his temporary employ as a tax collector, he tried to foreclose on a church. This lands him in our principal setting, a spacious communal dungeon in which the other prisoners mill about, seeking to cure their boredom. Their Governor (Scott Hall) declares the newcomer should stand trial for charges of the criminals’ choosing.
Cervantes seizes the opportunity – both to buy time and see how his stories are received by others – and “defends” himself by putting on our main story, the play within the play. Pasting on gray whiskers, he declares himself Don Quixote, with his servant now the farmer-turned-squire Sancho Panza. Other prisoners join in as various characters as needed.
If you know nothing else of this tale of an aging minor nobleman who reads one too many medieval romances and thinks himself the last defender of Chivalry, you have probably heard about the windmill. It’s actually a small part of the story, and Quixote’s charge against the four-armed “giant” happens quite soon in the musical. This is how we theatre folk get you, casual fan: come for the windmill tilting, stay for the meaningful stuff.
The plot really gets rolling when Quixote and Sancho arrive at an inn, which our knight sees as a castle (naturally). The Innkeeper (Hall) humors them, and we meet the other guests, a gang of muleteers led by Pedro (Kevin Caraher) who harass Aldonza (Jessica Hawkins), the wench serving up drinks, and maybe something more if the price is right. Quixote sees the woman, envisioning a high-born lady whom he declares to be “Dulcinea.”
Meanwhile in La Mancha, Quixote’s niece Antonia (Ashton Driscoll) and housekeeper (Yolanda Valdiva) enlist the help of a priest (Jericho Franke) and Dr. Carrasco (Rachel Serago) to find the man and bring him back to his senses.
The cast also includes Kendall Maxwell, Scott Stockton, Amalia Howard, Susannah Briscoe, Aaron Henze, Andrea Haskett, and Will Harris, who also plays guitar in coordination with the backstage orchestra, led by Seth Young.
A notable aspect of Cervantes’s satire is the comedy of good intentions gone awry, usually with others hurt while our oblivious old man goes blithely onward. This especially hurts Aldonza, who ironically becomes the one who most gets the point of this pointless adventure in the end. Thus, the musical asks a lot of Hawkins, and she is more than up to the challenge. She is compelling and commanding as a woman coming to terms with the possibility that her horrid past and present don’t define her future.
Veteran actor Hansen captures that perfect mix of maturity and whimsy to tackle his double-role. In both modes, he exudes confidence that stays a step ahead of the fear of a darker reality. Nathan, who must have been a court jester in a past life, is totally in his comic wheelhouse here. Serago, who as a prisoner is Cervantes’s “prosecutor” at trial, keeps one guessing if maybe the good Doctor is getting a kick out of tormenting Quixote in his efforts to save him.
There is much to unpack thematically, especially the simultaneous folly of and need for striving for a higher ethos. Perhaps this is why its most famous song, “The Impossible Dream,” resonates so much for so many. Hear it in context and see the “Man of La Mancha” at remaining performances Thursday through Sunday, March 14-17. at Shelton Auditorium, 1000 W. 42nd St., Indianapolis (edge of Butler University). For tickets and information, go to southbanktheatre.org.
Plays with John & Wendy 