Meschke, Don Quijote

Michael Meschke’s Don Quichotte, after Miguel de Cervantes. Visually inspired by the painting of Gustave Doré. Produced in 1988 by the company of the Stockholm Marionetteatern and performed on international touring. The two roles of Don Quichotte and Dulcinea were created by Michael Meschke and donated to the MAM, Musée des arts de la Marionnette Gadagne, Lyon, France. Don Quichotte, with a huge body and articulated face and fingers, was played by three artists..

“One basic adaption technique was to “shorten without killing,” to use dialogues or parts of them as written by Cervantes himself instead of adding new ones, to substitute texts with visual action wherever possible. My Don Quichotte was seen as the last, miserable European, always keen to jump into some challenge but incapable of acting because stuck in his chair by fading strength, a man who had seen it all, suffered all pain, who disbelieves everyone and everything, who is constantly dying. European civilization was murdered at Auschwitz and Don Quichotte foresaw it, yet he continuously screams out his idiotic conviction that one must do good, even if nobody listens.
The greatest challenge was how to interpret the windmills. They are not difficult to name: nuclear threat, arms rush, fascism, hunger, repression, the value of being human reduced to ruthless consumption, etc., but it is not that simple. Our Don Quichotte is saying that, in spite of all our idealistic commitments far and near, we must recognize and admit that we fight the symptoms in order to avoid the causes, namely we ourselves: we are the most dangerous windmills.” Michael Meschke

 

 

Michael Meschke     www.michaelmeschke.com