“Where Are You, Don Quixote?” — A Circus Parable

Based on Miguel de Cervantes’ novel Don Quixote, the Israel Youth Theatre presents a major anniversary premiere, marking two significant milestones at once: the theatre’s 35th anniversary and the 80th birthday of its artistic director, Shaul Tiktiner.

35 years on stage. Thousands of performances. Dozens of productions. Cities throughout the country. Several generations of audiences.

In this anniversary year, the Israel Youth Theatre presents not merely a new premiere, but a performance that poses a question—about a time when the world increasingly resembles a circus, people grow accustomed to wearing masks, and being genuine becomes almost an act of heroism.

Sometimes the world begins to resemble a circus. Everyone plays a role. They put on masks. They laugh when they want to remain silent. They remain silent when they want to scream. And gradually, they grow accustomed to living as though being genuine were already indecent.

In such a world, a person who refuses to betray himself seems strange. Someone who still believes seems ridiculous. Someone who tells the truth is inconvenient. Someone who goes against the general noise seems almost insane.

Where Are You, Don Quixote? is not a retelling of a novel about a knight from the past. It is a performance about a person who refused to be “normal” in an abnormal world. About the fragile boundary between the comic and the great. Between madness and staying true to oneself. Between the mask the world puts on us and the face we are afraid to lose.

Here, Don Quixote is not only a hero on stage. He is the part of us that still remembers what it means to believe, not betray oneself, and remain genuine—even when others laugh at it.

And when the lights go out, the question “Where are you, Don Quixote?” will remain with every member of the audience.

Where is he—my Don Quixote? And is he still alive within me?

Creative Team

• Playwright, director and set designer: Shaul Tiktiner
• Designers: Oleg Firer, Alexei Babushkin, Marina Koger
• Composer: Sergei Delyatitsky
• Music editor: Diana Fleier
• Choreographer: Galina Delyatitskaya
• Lighting designer: Alexander Novikov
• Cast: Igor Miroshnichenko, Boris Plaksin, Maxim Krylov, Diana Fleier, Vika Kabramova, Nikita Rosenfeld, Evgenia Itin, Remi Braginskaya, Shira Zhukova, Eitan Kopilevich