Finnish clowns Big Red Company return for a third Fringe season dismantling Cervantes in anarchic style.
Mike and Zin bring the classic story to life with minimal props and maximal silliness. As the original text is in itself somewhat ‘meta’, the duo can afford to treat the story the same way. While we do get an overview of the plot and occasional readings from an onstage hardback, there’s more analysis amid the clowning. The meaning behind the famous ‘tilting at windmills’ is explained, with Cervantes’ risking the ire of the Catholic Church by couching his distaste in humour.
And humour we get in spades. Our Don and Sancho ride around on a guitar and ukulele, wield mops as lances and chat to us as they search for injustices to stamp out. There’s musical interludes, somewhat unexpectedly pop in tone; Jefferson Airplane soundtracks Don’s falling in love, Bob Dylan for the iconic mill scene, Lennon for the tragedy. But it’s not too sentimental; the slapstick ‘dubbing’ has the requisite amount of comedy violence, as does a tomato-based bit of audience interaction. There’s even a small Finnish lesson!
One warning, though: it’s an adult clown show, so expect some nudity as Don descends into madness. But Mike and Zin carry it off with charm, and even throw in an interesting advert for Finnish tourism…
It might not be the story you’re expecting, but it’s one you won’t forget.
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