Issac Wade, Photo by : Michelle Stann

So many of us know the feeling of being stuck in a job we despise. Loathing the unpainted walls and flickering fluorescent lamps. Hearing the insane drum roll tapping of someone else’s keyboard and wondering, ‘I wonder what they’re working on.’ You want to break through the walls and escape. But, alas, you’ve been co-opted. And besides, you’ve got bills to pay.  Still, that need to get away can’t be shaken. Unless, of course, you’re Arthur Quick.

In the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble’s production of Quixotic at the Powerhouse Theatre they offer an escape of their own in this satiric retelling of Cervantes’ classic Don Quixote: imagine Cervantes meets The Office. Arthur Quick was a ne’er-do-well employee at Munsch-Littleton Insurance: a drone to the company, Arthur begins to retreat into the trappings of his mind. Soon, he believes his office is a small medieval province, and he a knight enlisted to protect it from giants, witches and goblins. The safety of the provincial citizens hinges mostly on efficiently sorting out insurance claims and occasionally battling to the death.

Isaac Wade as Arthur Quick (later dubbed Sir Quixotic) imbues the title character with a grandiose air. But his subtlety still hints at the trembling Arthur Quick we meet at the beginning of the play. He illuminates the duality of the character – both a stentorian knight and a fool dawning pots and pans – by playing Quixotic larger than life while still seeming slightly affected, as if he knows somewhere inside that he does not belong.  Wade allows room for other characters and the audience to find part of themselves in Quixotic.

Not to cast shadows on the other players. This is, after all an ensemble cast. Coco Kleppinger as Allie (Quixotic’s Sra. Del Toboso) is strong and charming. A woman caught in a torturous love triangle, she finds escape through Quixotic wishing to shake off the world as easily as Arthur. Kleppinger is fiery and beautiful and

L to R: Issac Wade, Ariel Goldberg, Coco Klippinger, Paige L. White, Danielle Katz, Sara Gold, Treavor Algatt. Photos by: Michelle Stann

forges a unique and touching relationship with Arthur. Paige White plays the snakey and opportunistic Sloan, the woman who doesn’t quite understand why a nut like Arthur can find job security.

Sarah Gold is adorable and a dream to watch on stage. Her shining eyes and coy demeanor make her perfect as the office receptionist and token bystander. We find her floundering in a relationship that clearly is going nowhere.

But who is Don Quixote without his Sancho? Ariel Goldberg shines as Sam Panzer, Quixotic’s reluctant sidekick. Goldberg is hilarious. His I-don’t-like-where-this-is-going deadpan does so much to brighten up the play and punctuate Quixotic’s insanity.

Amanda Glaze and Kit Steinkellner’s direction and writing (respectively) bring to the stage a timely story about the power of art and the imagination. In the end, the characters find themselves trying to convince Arthur Quick that he is the knight of his own creation. They have all pressed upon themselves a reality that they had only embraced because one man had the gumption to be compelling and imaginative. This is the exact feeling you get once you leave this show. You feel that the imagination of the production has given you just enough wind to get you through another work day. You feel compelled to convince other people that there are places that allow escape from harsh reality. You are reminded of just what theatre and art can do.

Play runs from 10/30 - 11/22/08

The Powerhouse Theatre Company
3116 2nd Street
Santa Monica, CA 90405
Phone: 310.396.3680
To puchase tickets: https://www.latensemble.tix.com/Schedule.asp?OrganizationNumber=441