one4review | On 27, Aug 2026

Cervantes’ epic novel from the 17th century is notoriously impossible to adapt, with seemingly more films being made about how difficult it is to make a film of Don Quixote than actual Don Quixote movies. So it’s a bold choice to squeeze the over 900-page book down into a 55-minute Fringe show, but this is the appropriately quixotic challenge that Opposable Thumb Theatre and actor, clown and puppeteer Dik Downey has set for himself.

From the start of the show, with Downey coming on stage to talk about himself and the book before laboriously strapping himself into his costume and suit of armour including cape sword and a beautifully cartoonish mask, you know you’re in for something as special as it is silly. With the assistance of a wide variety of frankly amazingly made puppets Downey brings to life the adventures of the beloved deluded Don as well as with his stalwart companions squire Sancho Panza and “mighty steed” Rocinante. We speed through some of Don Quixote’s most famous moments, including the infamous fight against some windmills, the erratic knight errant mistakes for giants while trekking through La Mancha.

But it’s not just a story about Don Quixote’s adventures, it’s also about Dik Downey’s fight for relevance after a performing career spanning four decades. Downey routinely stops the action to address the audience directly, bringing in facts about previous performances or the innovations he came up with for this show (the trick of clipping the puppets magnetically to his metal breast plate is, admittedly, inspired). Despite the costume and comically oversized nose and moustache, you never once forget who it is standing on stage underneath them. As the show continues and Downey begins visibly struggling to keep up, or even stand up in the clattering metal work, the thematic link of men chasing the impossible to outrun their own mortality comes very much to the fore.

No one could have told the story of Don Quixote in its entirety in this runtime, but by blending the two narratives together, Opposable Thumb Theatre are able to masterfully summarise the feeling of the book. All the comedy but also the accompanying tragedy.

This is the kind of show created with the level of skill, craft and confidence that only comes from the kind of experience that Downey and the rest of Opposable Thumb Theatre possess. Downey mentions towards the end of the show that this is the first show he’s brought to the Edinburgh Fringe, despite his many years of performing and I can only hope there will be many more to come.

*****
Reviewed by Tom

15:25

5th-31st

King Dome at Pleasance Dome