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BrumHour saw Don Quixote at the invite of Birmingham Royal Ballet.
By George Elsmere-Whitney
Don Quixote: Birmingham Royal Ballet at Birmingham Hippodrome: Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐”Bright, buoyant, and bursting with life”
Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Don Quixote brings a much-needed dose of Spanish sunshine to a grey, wet February in this colourful, joyful production.
Inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’ beloved novel, the ballet follows Don Quixote (Jonathan Payn), an eccentric gentleman so engrossed in tales of knights and heroic deeds that he becomes convinced he must be one of them. Armed with a fruit bowl for a helmet, a barrel for a horse, and his loyal squire Sancho Panza (Olivia Chang-Clarke), he sets off in search of adventures and people in need of chivalry. Along the way, he encounters Basilio (Mathias Dingman), a barber, and Kitri (Genevieve Penn Nabity), the woman he loves. Kitri’s father, Lorenzo (Rory MacKay), dismisses Basilio as penniless and would rather see his daughter married to the wealthy nobleman Gamache (August Generalli). Naturally, Don Quixote can’t resist stepping in to champion the young lovers.
This is a ballet packed with fun. Tim Hatley’s costumes are a riot of colour and sparkle, beautifully matched by sets that evoke sun-soaked Spanish evenings. Humour runs through the production, with plenty of slapstick silliness, particularly in the delicious physical comedy of the ludicrously dressed Gamache, whose repeated attempts to woo Kitri fail in increasingly entertaining ways.
More delight comes from the playful flirtation between Kitri and Basilio. She teases and plays coy while he charms the local girls with his guitar-playing, before the pair launch into a series of spectacular duets that crackle with energy and chemistry.
As Don Quixote, Jonathan Payn brings warmth and sincerity to a role that could easily tip into cartoon. Instead, he offers a man fully committed to his imagined quest and his idealised lady, Dulcinea (Daria Stanciulescu), grounding the comedy with real heart.
Filled to the brim with strutting matadors, beautiful dryads, mysterious gypsies, and plenty of flamenco flavour, Don Quixote is an irresistible escape; bright, buoyant, and bursting with life. Don Quixote is at the Birmingham Hippodrome until Saturday, 21 February 2026. Book tickets here: birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/brb-don-quixote-three. And discover more about Birmingham Royal Ballet here: brb.org.uk.
