Worth the wait: Lookingglass returns with delightful ‘Circus Quixote’

“Circus Quixote” — 3.5 stars

Nineteen months ago, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted Lookingglass Theatre Company to suspend production. Insisting it was only a hiatus, the Tony Award-winning theater promised to return.

Last week, Lookingglass made good on its promise, premiering “Circus Quixote” a fond, playful adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes’ 17th-century adventure tale “Don Quixote of La Mancha.”

Co-produced with longtime collaborator The Actors Gymnasium, the circus arts training center in Evanston, the entertaining “Circus Quixote” reflects Lookingglass’ singular theatricality and whimsy and The Actors Gymnasium’s trademark panache.

“Circus Quixote” was worth the wait.

Adapted and directed by David Catlin and Kerry Catlin, with circus arts and movement designed by Actors Gymnasium co-founder and artistic director Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi, the show chronicling the efforts of an idealist to right wrongs and assist the afflicted is sentimental in the best sense of the word.

Michel Rodriguez Cintra — an agile, endearing actor/dancer/circus artist — plays struggling, low-level Spanish aristocrat Don Quijada. Quijada’s love of heroic literature sparks his delusion that he is knight-errant Don Quixote: righter of wrongs, defender of damsels, friend to orphans and the elderly.

“Every danger we dare, we dare to make the world better,” he proclaims.

Ignoring the protests of his niece Antonia (Andrea San Miguel), Don Quixote sets out to win the ethereal Dulcinea (Laura Murillo Hart) through a series of daring deeds that include battling giants (in reality, windmills), sea serpents and a maraudering army (an unfortunate flock of sheep).

He’s accompanied by neighbor-turned-squire (and true believer) Sancho, played with warmth and wry amusement by Eduardo Martinez. Martinez also plays the novelist Cervantes, whose direct addresses to the audience from his prison cell bookend the play.

If Cintra’s Quixote is the soul of “Circus Quixote,” Martinez’s faithful Sancho — the skeptic turned believer — is its beating heart. The impossible dream inspires Don Quixote. Affection animates Sancho to the point that he literally carries his errant knight several times during the show.

To that end, it’s worth noting that the play references the Spanish Inquisition and religious/political persecution only in passing. Instead it focuses on Quixote’s dedication to his chivalric ideals and the devotion his friends and family have to him (as evidenced by the great lengths they go to in order to bring him safely home).

The action unfolds on Courtney O’Neill’s wonderful set, dominated by a wall of books and flanked by “trees” and a windmill (Lee Brasuell designed the apparatuses), which Hernandez-DiStasi’s actor/acrobats use to marvelous effect.

As ever, the circus artistry delights. Several times the performers so captivated that the audience seemed unwilling to break the spell by applauding. Case in point, the impressive display of grace and strength that define the aerial battles between Cintra’s Quixote and his Knight of the Mirrors nemesis (Micah Figueroa); the lovely aerial duet between Ayana Strutz’s Duchess and her beloved Duke played by Julian Hester; and a rather sweet aerial stunt involving Quixote rescuing his ensnared niece.

Sound designer Grover Hollway deserves credit for his varied effects. So do puppet designer Grace Needlman and costume designer Sully Ratke, who collaborate for an earthbound interlude involving puppet master Pedro (Hart) and his mystic monkey.

Initially charming, the bit drags on, which diminishes its appeal. There are a few other issues. The narrative repeats itself (trimming at least one of the romances would shorten the nearly 2½-hour running time).

I also found the tone inconsistent. At times it felt like the supporting performers were winking and nodding at the audience. Less so for Cintra and Martinez, who sincerely embrace the play’s message of love and the obligation we as humans owe each other (something too many of us too often forget).

I expect Lookingglass will resolve those minor imperfections and with “Circus Quixote” reclaim its place among the Chicago area’s finest theatrical institutions.

• • •

Location: Lookingglass Theatre Company, in association with The Actors Gymnasium, Water Tower Water Works, 163 E. Pearson St., Chicago, (312) 337-0665, lookingglasstheatre.org

Showtimes: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; 1:30 and 7 p.m. Thursday and Saturday; 1:30 p.m. Sunday through March 30

Tickets: $35-$80

Running time: About 2 hours, 20 minutes, with intermission

Rating: For most audiences