A theatrical metanarrative of Cervantes’ Don Quixote: Dramaturgy, corporeality and play

Abstract

In 2018, Efi Birba offered the Greek public a different theatrical version of the famous Cervantes’ novel, Don Quixote. Exclusively profiting the storytelling dynamic of the body, she used playing as the main tool of the literary interpretation and meaningfulness. Her directorial choices removed her from the concept of theatrical adaptation and introduced her into the field of metanarration. In this article, I explore the dramaturgical rhetoric of the performance and the narrative devices being used in. Highlighting the concept of ‘play’ as the main technique, I point out the performative flow as a non-verbal field where the body may not just represent or tell a story, but actually be that story and shift it from one level to another. Questions about corporeal awareness, timing and spatiality are raised, as well as questions about the metanarrative potential of a corporeal performance to translate literary meanings and deepen into allegorical insights and symbolisms.