Review: QUIXOTE NUEVO at Portland Center Stage

In QUIXOTE NUEVO, Octavio Solis’s modern take on Don Quixote now playing at Portland Center Stage, Quijano (played by Tony Sancho), a retired literature professor and expert in Cervantes, is faced with his own mortality. In the early stages of dementia, he’s becoming a hazard to himself and more than his family can handle. 

But rather than go quietly to a care facility, he imagines himself as the hero he spent his life studying. He enlists a neighbor, Manny (Ernie González, Jr.), and together they embark on a physical, mental, and spiritual journey, riding bicycles instead of horses and tilting at border patrol drones instead of windmills. This gorgeous show is exactly the kind of thing we need more of right now – a celebration of the indomitable human spirit and a challenge to us all to not just imagine a better world but to make that world a reality.

The show is a co-production with South Coast Repertory and Seattle Rep, and it’s an excellent example of what happens when so many talented people come together in collaboration. Everything is top-notch, from the fabulous performances by the entire ensemble (there are no weak links) to the scenic (Efren Delgadillo Jr.), lighting (Pablo Santiago), sound (David R. Molina) design, and puppets (Helen Q. Huang) that make QUIXOTE NUEVO a multisensory feast.

Don’t worry if you’re unfamiliar with Don Quixote. Prior knowledge of it is not required to understand QUIXOTE NUEVO. Solis uses the framework of the classic, but the issues are modern – the hardships faced by undocumented workers, loved ones separated across borders – and the themes are timeless – love, loss, fear, bravery, aging.

QUIXOTE NUEVO is my favorite show of the 2023-2024 season so far and the best thing I’ve seen at Portland Center Stage in a long time. I laughed and cried and loved everything about it. Details and tickets here.

Photo credit: Jingzi Zhao/courtesy of Portland Center Stage

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