Northwestern University’s “Man of La Mancha,” with Nathan Hiykel, Esteban Ortiz-Villacorta and Isadora Coco Gonzalez/Photo: Justin Barbin
RECOMMENDED
Fluorescent lights overhead came on with a startling thunk. Shudders ran through the audience each time it happened. Again and again, we were caught off guard. We were unsettled—which was the point. A brilliant directorial choice for a prescient and moving treatment of “Man of La Mancha” set in a defunct Walmart turned border detention center in Texas. Surrounded by cameras, our play-within-a-play players are stuck in limbo, waiting on a broken bureaucratic system. Never has the idealistic musical felt so real.
Per his director’s note, show director and chair of Northwestern Department of Theatre Henry Godinez gave credit for the production theme to his daughter Gaby Godinez. Although I sincerely doubt playwright Dale Wasserman imagined his Spanish Inquisition prison as a former Walmart stockroom, who could complain? This production trades fully ambulatory horses for ones astride old Walmart carts and windmills for oversized stockroom ceiling fans. A Inn Doo’s painstaking set overtook me the second I sat down. But what my eyes returned to again and again was the haunting bygone Walmart slogan on the back wall: “Save Money. Live Better.” The “live better” was a popcorn kernel stuck in my teeth as actors depicting detained immigrants tried to cope with life beneath it, with “living better” feeling like the impossible dream.
In that attempt to cope, we meet newcomer Miguel Cervantes (Esteban Ortiz-Villacorta) and his pal Sancho (Nathan Hiykel). The duo arrived, oversized trunk in hand, ready to delve into fiction to escape from reality. That’s when Cervantes becomes his dramatic persona, Don Quixote, a chivalrous knight seeking honor as he defends the world from monstrous giants, which turn out to be windmills. Ortiz-Villacorta as Cervantes/Quixote does this with aplomb, charming the audience as well as fellow detainees instantly.
Northwestern University’s “Man of La Mancha,” with Esteban Ortiz-Villacorta/Photo: Justin Barbin
Steadfastly by his side is Hiykel. There could be no better emblematic descriptor of Hiykel’s performance than Sancho’s song “I Really Like Him.” From these characters’ highest highs to their lowest lows, Hiykel embraces each scene to its fullest. By the same token, Mackenzie Kirkwood’s angelic voice gives rise to Padre’s role in the show. Although Kirkwood is not a lead, his enchanting performance will stick with me long after this show closes.
For all the strengths of this oft-not-performed musical, the production suffers from uneven performances. Although the entire cast is vocally strong, several moments lose their momentum because actors fail to connect emotionally with the moment. As lovely as the musicality can be, it is hard to stay invested in the show at times when the performers seem caught up in staying in tune rather than exploring the full depth of their character’s moment.
All in all, this imaginative production should be top of mind, particularly if you have never seen “Man of La Mancha.” Like Quixote himself, this show is a rare sight. It is also a testament to the power of treatments and giving productions a unique theme, which never detracts from the show itself. As someone who has seen many shows with less successful creative treatments, having one that works on so many levels was this critic’s seemingly impossible dream.
Northwestern University’s “Man of La Mancha” runs through May 4 at Northwestern University’s Ethel M. Barber Theater, 30 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston. Thursday, May 1 at 7:30pm; Friday, May 2 at 7:30pm; Saturday, May 3 at 2pm & 7:30pm; Sunday, May 4 at 2pm. Tickets for the general public are $30, available at wirtz.northwestern.edu.
