Four centuries since the publication of Don Quixote, regarded as the first modern novel in literature, theatre director Aliyar Ali is set to revive this classic tale of an idealist knight, Don Quixote, fighting the battles of a realistic world.
The Spanish novel written in the 17th century by Miguel de Cervantes has been adapted into a Malayalam play, Nanmayil John Quixote. It will be staged in Thiruvananthapuram by city-based Theatre Academy for Media and Performance (THAMP) in collaboration with Athlete, a sportive theatre space in Palakkad, on September 12 and 13.
A still from Nanmayil John Quixote
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Nanmayil John Quixote is a homage to Aliyar’s deceased friend and visual artist, Midhun Murali. “Don Quixote inspired Midhun a lot and he wanted to visualise the text. We are animating some of his art work, which will be used in this play,” says Aliyar.
Midhun, who passed away in 2023, was part of Athlete’s production called Knockout, which explored the performance possibilities of boxing in theatre. It was adapted from Krapp’s Last Tape, a one-act play written by Samuel Beckett. Similarly, Nanmayil John Quixote, set in contemporary Kerala, uses kalaripayattu (an indigenous martial art) as a narrative device.
Character arc
Aliyar, an alumnus of the National School of Drama, Delhi, and the winner of the Best Director award by the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi in 2017, emphasises that the team wanted “a work which does not remind people that it is a foreign text. While Nanmayil… stays consistent to the original plot, it has a relatable cultural context created by tweaking the story’s background.”
Theatre director Aliyar Ali
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Through his work, the director, explains the protagonist John’s unhinged personality, arguing how he would “believe it is madness to let go of his dreams to fight a knight’s fight”, while he fights battles sparked by romanticised ideals about noblemen. “When we look at great discoveries by scientists, we can sense some obsession in them that led them to such findings. Even in history, revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh pursued such ‘impractical thoughts’ as a noble cause,” he adds.
Veteran theatre artiste, Saji Thulasidas, plays John in this production, which premiered at the Government Victoria College in Palakkad in April, following a year of rehearsal camps at Nenmara, Palakkad. In the 15-member cast, senior actor Dasan Kongad plays Sancho Pachan, Aliyar’s version of Don’s sidekick Sancho Panza in the novel.
Adapting a classic
“For someone who has read the text, the play will feel the same due to unrevised plot points. For instance, in the novel, they use a barber’s bowl to replicate a crown in one of the scenes. Similarly, we use a colander as a crown for John, given to him by the vessel seller,” says Aliyar.
A still from Nanmayil John Quixote
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In the original text, the character is transported into an era of chivalry. This is brought in the play, as he travels to different parts of Kerala.
Aliyar says, “I see it as a political satire about someone who lost his mind after reading too much about the bravery of knights. His pursuits were for a world espousing equality. We have used the term athinayakan, instead of knighthood awarded by lords and kings. This status is given by a Theyyam and further uses myths associated with the Cheraman Perumal dynasty in Kerala,” Aliyar says.
A still from Nanmayil John Quixote
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Experiments in theatre
“Kerala has been fostering experimental theatre in the country,” says Aliyar about the performance space for the play, resembling an arena or poothara, a multi-tiered platform, with kalaripayattu weapons placed in one corner.
In the cast is Shyju Gurukkal, “one of the first people in Asia to make use of the theatrical possibilities of kalaripayattu, among other practitioners of the same.”
He adds, “Another interesting fact is that, in the poster, I am not the director; it is given as Zid Hameta Quixotali, an invisible character in the play, who doesn’t appear on the stage. The reason why we did that is Miguel himself says that he had translated the text from an Arabic writer. Just like we have Ezhuthachan’s Adhyatma Ramayanam Kilippattu, a Malayalam retelling of the original text in the kilippattu (bird song) format.”
The music for the play is an EDM track combining folk, contemporary, and fusion music, by Naru Parai Isai. Artist Shanto Antony, known for graffiti painting, has designed the set.
Nanmayil John Quixote, will staged at Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan on Sept 12 and 13, at 6.30 pm. Passes available at ₹200. Contact: 9496546902
Published – September 04, 2025 11:00 am IST
