Tonight was the beginning of this year’s theater season for me, with the first CalShakes play of the year, Octavio Solis’ Quixote Nuevo. This was a world premiere production of this play by a noted Latino playwright, adapted from the classic story Don Quixote.
This was a solo trip for me as Bill and Andy had to switch nights due to a conflict, and I wasn’t able to fill my other seats. It was a very pleasant evening considering it was the summer solstice, the longest day of the year and the first official day of summer. The play addressed many issues from elder care and dementia, life choices and the road not taken, and immigration issues on our border. The staging was well done with modular units for various set elements could be wheeled in and out and opened up. There was also lots of tejano music throughout the play. It took me a while to get into it, but in the end it was quite moving.
I’m still a bit concerned with the change in structure of the season to just 3 plays, only one of which is a Shakespeare, it it is an amalgamation of several plays. We’ll see how it all goes, but I’m trying to be optimistic.