Patricia, the 9 year old daughter of my hosts came home with her school reading book. It was a colourful children's picture book version of the classic Don Quixote de la Mancha.
I have to admit to never having read the book fully but I had some knowledge of the storyline. Patricia's book reaffirmed to me that Don Quixote is a book about imagination.
A middle-aged man goes mad after reading too many books about chivalry, he imagines he's a knight and that windmills are giants. His old nag becomes his steed 'Rocinante' and in his mind a farm girl becomes the lady whose honour he must defend 'Dulcinea'

This afternoon I met a friend to attend one of the Thursday matinee productions we enjoy at the Leeds Playhouse.
I was eagerly looking forward to today's show as it was an epic production of 'Don Quixote'..."Goody", I thought "I will be able to fill in the bits of the story that i'm not too sure about".
Well it doesn't work like that does it?? 'cos when a piece of theatre portrays imagination and fantasy it is best if one knows the story before-hand !...and when the the scenes which are set firmly in the 21st century but nonetheless successfully captures the spirit of the seventeenth century original, albeit in a surreal way, then it is even more important to be on the ball.

I THINK WHAT I SAW WAS SHEER GENIUS ..although many of the people in the audience were somewhat baffled and I can't say I blame them;
there were some wonderful moments, but a lot of what was happening on stage was downright baffling to the uninitiated.

One newspaper critic of the production said

Don Quixote is not the familiar comic figure, but is presented as a late middle-aged man dealing with delusions and despair. This is a theatrical misadventure of such epic proportions that the only charitable explanation is that everyone at West Yorkshire Playhouse is suffering some collective delusion.

Not being a journalist or even a writer of any description I couldn't possibly do justice in describing the play, all I can say is that the actors were first class with Don Quixote being played magnificently by Greg Hicks a well respected Shakespearian actor and his side-kick Sancho amusingly played by Tony Bell (with a northern accent).
The rest of the cast play multiple roles with great enthusiasm, changing characters as easily as they changed costumes creating a parade of exhibitionist chavvy characters and using a dispensing coke machine, blow-up dolls and flickering TVs as props.
Why is Don Quixote's niece dressed as a St Trinian's schoolgirl? Why did we have to see Sancho's bare bottom, why was there a 'gay' kiss, why did they do a Madonna routine mid show, why were two grown men bouncing about on two giant bouncy balls in nowt but their underpants.
Why was there so much passion and emotion at times, in the classical way from Don Quixote (Greg Hicks).. and why do I want to go see it all over again ??
Is it because of the tremendous acting or is it because maybe second time round I will make more sense of the story-line?

On the way out my friend remarked to me
"Well, that was certainly different!, good but puzzling -lol"
I turned to her and said somewhat condescendingly
"Look,if Quixote's imagination can turn inns into castles, windmills into giants and prostitutes into princesses then so can yours"

She nearly walloped me.