Kijote Kathakali is a theatre play by the Margi Kathakali Company of Kerala, directed by Ignacio García with Mónica de la Fuente as associate director. It premiered in 2016 at the Almagro International Classical Theatre Festival and was co-produced by Casa de la India with the Margi Kathakali Company and the Almagro International Classical Theatre Festival.
Kijote Kathakali is an innovative production, the result of a multifaceted dialogue between tradition and modernity and between two cultures: India and Spain. An initiative that brings together two literary and theatrical cultures, two ways of understanding art, theatre and imagination, through the staging of a version of Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes, performed in the format of one of the richest and most mysterious classical theatrical traditions in the world: Kathakali theatre from South India. The visual richness of this ritual dramatic art and the imaginary world of Don Quixote, both linked in time (their common origin is the 17th century) and nourished by their own traditions of legends and mythologies (medieval knights errant and the heroes and gods of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, respectively), meet in the 21st century to explore the universality of the ingenious nobleman and his faithful squire. And also to surprise us and make us see our culture from the perspective of the “other” in an encounter that questions the ethereal limits of a culture. The play is performed by the actors and musicians of the Margi Kathakali Company of Trivandrum, Kerala, one of the most prestigious companies and schools of classical Kathakali theatre in India. To bring this distant dramatic art closer to the audience and establish a creative process, the Spanish artistic team, led by director Nacho García (an expert in intercultural projects and innovative opera projects) and Mónica de la Fuente (a specialist in Kathakali theatre), draws on elements from the world of Cervantes, references to classical Spanish theatre and the use of new technologies from a contemporary perspective open to dialogue. This dramatised version of Don Quixote in Kathakali theatre has become a unique experience and the most enriching cultural exchange. Kijote Kathakali offers a new contribution both to the world of Cervantes and to the current scene of classical Kathakali theatre, which remains very active.
Kijote Kathakali is a show based on the dialogue between two heritages and two ways of understanding the performing arts today. On the one hand, there is the rich tradition of Kathakali theatre with its specific code and musical, dance, gestures and theatrical conventions, and on the other, there is Western theatre with its use of new languages, technical elements with an approach to the emotion inherited from the psychological theatre. Based on this two centuries-old theatrical heritages, Kathakali theatre and the Spanish Golden Age, the show builds bridges so that the Spanish audience is imbued with the delicacy, physical strength and expressiveness of the Indian tradition, which in turn absorbs the use of new languages (light, sound, projections) and a psychological treatment of the characters based on the inner impulses that nurture their gestures and movements.