DON QUIXOTE to be Presented as Part of Red Bull Theater's Hispanic Golden Age Classics Series

Red Bull Theater will present the fourth installment of Red Bull’s acclaimed Hispanic Golden Age Classics, this year examining Don Quixote in English and Spanish versions, which will kick off the company’s 2023-24 Season.

Presented in collaboration with Repertorio Español and Diversifying the Classics | UCLA, this three-part series of events will focus on Don Quixote by Guillén de Castro. This series is supported by the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain.

The Hispanic Golden Age offers one of the most vibrant theatrical repertoires ever produced. At the same time that England saw the flourishing of Shakespeare on the Elizabethan and Jacobean stage and in the decades that followed, Spanish-speaking playwrights including Lope De Vega, Tirso de Molina, Ana Caro, Sor Juana, and Calderón de la Barca flourished on the continent and in the New World. Many of the works created during this time have still not been translated into English.

Red Bull Theater is committed to expanding its repertoire by seeking out and sharing lesser-known texts that stand the test of time. Guillén de Castro’s Don Quixote is just such a play.

"All of us at Red Bull are excited to announce the programs for our upcoming Hispanic Golden Age Classics program, as part of our ongoing mission to revitalize the classics for today’s audiences. We’re delighted to be collaborating with Repertorio Español, and partnering again with UCLA’s Diversifying the Classics—supporting their efforts to expand the canon of classical plays. In addition to being able to share the work globally via livestream, this is our first time being able to do this program live and in person, which will be wonderful!” said Mr. Berger. 

"This brand new translation of the play – for the first-time in English – is terrific, and we can’t wait to share it with audiences far and wide. We hope this endeavor uncovers a whole new angle on the Don Quixote story and provides a point of entry into the broader classical canon of plays produced in theaters throughout our country and beyond,” added Mr. Giannini.

The program begins with an online Seminar: Tilting at Windmills: Cervantes, Shakespeare, and the Cultural Significance of Don Quixote, followed by Revelation Readings of Don Quixote – in person and online, one a world premiere new English translation, and the second in the original Spanish. And finally, the Bull Session, an interactive discussion of the play and its themes with members of the creative team.

Diversifying the Classics | UCLA, the working group responsible for the translation, includes Marta Albalá Pelegrín, Barbara Fuchs, Rafael Jaime, Saraí Jaramillo, Rachel Kaufman, Robin Kello, Dandi Meng, Laura Muñoz, Javier Patiño Loira, Amanda Riggle, Rhonda Sharrah, Aina Soley Mateu, Samantha Solis, and Jesslyn Whittell
 

ABOUT THE EVENTS

ONLINE SEMINAR: Tilting at Windmills:
Cervantes, Shakespeare, and the Cultural Significance of Don Quixote

Tuesday September 26th at 7:30 PM ET

FREE!

Hosted by RBT Associate Artistic Director Nathan Winkelstein

Guests:  UCLA Professor Barbara Fuchs and RBT Founder & Artistic Director Jesse Berger and members of UCLA's Diversifying the Classics. 

 

REVELATION READING  – Don Quixote – In Person & Online!

Monday October 2nd (7:30pm) at Repertorio Español (138 East 27th Street, between Lexington and 3rd Avenues)

Don Quixote by Guillén de Castro, A World Premiere English Translation by Diversifying the Classics/UCLA, directed by José Zayas

Produced by Red Bull Theater

A World Premiere English Translation

Featuring Heidi Armbruster, Keith Hamilton Cobb, Darryl Gene Daughtry, Carson Elrod,  Irene Sofia Lucio,  Melissa Mahoney, Ismenia Mendes, Jacob Ming-Trent, Luise Moreno, David Ryan Smith, and Arturo Luis Soria

This event will premiere LIVE on Monday, October 2nd at 7:30 PM ET.  A recording will be available from Tuesday October 3rd at 7:30 PM ET through Sunday October 8th at 11:59 PM ET. Open captions will be available from Wednesday October 4th at 7:30 PM ET.
 

LIVE & ONLINE BULL SESSION, a FREE interactive discussion of the play and its themes with members of the creative teams will follow the reading Monday October 2nd,  at approximately 9:30pm ET

 

READING  – Don Quixote  – En Espanol  – In Person Only

Tuesday October 10th (7:30pm) at Repertorio Español (138 East 27th Street, between Lexington and 3rd Avenues)

Don Quixote by Guillén de Castro in Spanish, directed by Leyma López

Produced by Repertorio Español 

ABOUT THE PLAY
 

Red Bull Theater continues its exploration of Hispanic Golden Age Classics with this world-premiere English translation of a play about Western literature’s most beloved windmill-tilting knight and his loyal sidekick. Don Quixote ‘rides’ back into the spotlight in this hilarious Spanish comedia about spurned lovers, changeling children, and, of course, the fanciful knight who wants to save them all.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

Guillén de Castro y Bellvís (1569 - 1631), the most important and representative of a group of Spanish dramatists that flourished in Valencia. He is remembered chiefly for his work Las mocedades del Cid (1599?), upon which the French playwright Pierre Corneille based his famous drama Le Cid (1637). Castro’s play clearly shows his strength in the use of natural dialogue. After an active military and civil service career in Valencia and Italy, he settled in Madrid, where his friend the playwright Lope De Vega helped him to find outlets for his work. Castro is considered the first playwright to have dealt with the seamier aspects of marriage, as in Los mal casados de Valencia (“The Unhappy Marriages of Valencia”). Attracted to the culture of Castile, he drew heavily upon the traditional ballads of the region, and three of his plays are based upon novels by Miguel de Cervantes. As a lyric and dramatic poet Guillen de Castro had few if any superiors. He wrote some forty comedies, all of which show the inventive genius and patriotism of the author, and they enjoyed great popularity both in and out of Spain. His comedies were published in two parts at Valencia, in 1621 and 1625 respectively. A haughty man, he antagonized his patrons and lived his last years in extreme poverty and was buried by charity. ​ 

ABOUT DIVERSIFYING THE CLASSICS

Diversifying the Classics promotes the vibrant, Spanish-language theatrical tradition developed on both sides of the Atlantic by playwrights such as Spaniards Lope De Vega and Calderón de la Barca, or Mexicans Ruiz de Alarcón and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. The project seeks to foster awareness and appreciation of Hispanic classical theater in Los Angeles and beyond, expanding the canon to include the heritage of US Latino communities. While our work is based in Los Angeles, we hope to reach theater professionals and audiences across the US, offering them the materials and tools to explore the rich tradition of the comedia. The comedias of the Hispanic Golden Age are plays for the people; performances took place in open-air theaters, where attendees of all classes and both sexes commingled. At the same time the works are sophisticated urban dramas, offering pointed reflections on the constructed nature of class and gender as well as the performativity of social roles in the burgeoning city, issues that resonate with audiences today.

ABOUT REPERTORIO ESPAÑOL

Founded in 1968, Repertorio Español has presented an unparalleled body of theater that promotes and divulges the rich heritage of Hispanic and Latinx theater. Spanish masters like Calderón, Lope De Vega, and García Lorca, renowned playwrights from Latin America and the growing body of American writers who capture the Latino experience in the U.S.—from NYC to Portland, LA, NYC, Washington DC, Texas, Denver, and Chicago-- are all at home in Repertorio Español’s programming. Also, the company has presented acclaimed translations of plays by Edward Albee, Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, Gian Carlo Menotti, Eduardo De Filippo, and Noel Coward. The Company presents a rotating repertory of 13 different plays, musicals, and dance concerts with over 300 performances every year. Its productions are seen by over 50,000 people annually at its home, the historic Gramercy Arts Theatre, and on tour. Every year, approximately 20,000 students are introduced to the heritage of Spanish language theatre through its education program, ¡DIGNIDAD!

ABOUT RED BULL THEATER

Red Bull Theater brings rarely seen classic plays to dynamic new life for contemporary audiences, uniting a respect for tradition with a modern sensibility. Named for the rowdy Jacobean playhouse that illegally performed plays in England during the years of Puritan rule, Red Bull Theater is New York City’s home for dynamic performances of great plays that stand the test of time. With the Jacobean plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries as its cornerstone, the company also produces new works that are in conversation with the classics. A home for artists, scholars, and students, Red Bull Theater delights and engages the intellect and imagination of audiences, and strives to make its work accessible, diverse, and welcoming to all. We value and practice inclusiveness, equity, and diversity in all of our activities, and are committed to antiracist action. Red Bull Theater believes in the power of great classic stories and plays of heightened language to deepen our understanding of the human condition, in the special ability of live theater to create unique, collective experiences, and in the timeless capacity of classical theater to illuminate the events of our times. Variety agreed, hailing Red Bull’s work as: “Proof that classical theater can still be surprising after hundreds of years.”

Since its debut in 2003 with a production of Shakespeare’s Pericles starring Daniel Breaker, Red Bull Theater has served adventurous theatergoers with Off-Broadway productions, Revelation Readings, and the annual Short New Play Festival. The company also offers outreach programs including Shakespeare in Schools bringing professional actors and teaching artists into public school classrooms; Bull Sessions, free post-play discussions with top scholars; and Classical Acting Intensives led by veteran theater professionals. During the pandemic, Red Bull created several newx and ongoing programs to serve audiences and artists with our mission: RemarkaBULL Podversations, Online Readings, Seminars, and more.

Red Bull Theater has produced 24 Off-Broadway productions and over 200 Revelation Readings of rarely seen classics, serving a community of more than 5,000 artists and providing quality artistic programming to an audience of over 65,000. The company’s unique programming has received ongoing critical acclaim and has been recognized with Lortel, Drama Desk, Drama League, Callaway, Off-Broadway Alliance, and OBIE nominations and Awards.

For more information about the Hispanic Golden Age Classics, or any of Red Bull Theater's programs, visit www.redbulltheater.com.

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