Floating Island
A modern funny-bitter story
"What sold more: Don Quixote or the Bible?
It depends, there are times in which people believe in God and times when they believe in themselves."
Two present day prisoners, an intellectual librarian and a simple minded crook, sit in their cell and read Cervantes’ Don Quixote in religious like repetition. They literally "break" the fourth wall of their cell and of the stage, but the border between reality and insanity can be too fragile.
This is not an adaptation of the great novel by Cervantes but an original modern tale that can take place in any prison around the globe with a library in it. This is the story of friendship between two men, and about the necessity of fighting the windmills inside ourselves.
Characters (3M, 2F)
Theo, a convict working as a librarian in prison / Don Quixote
Luca, a convict working as a cook in prison / Sancho Panza
Guard / Slave Trader / Doctor
Nurse / Madam in a brothel
Theresa, Luca’s wife
The time: today.
The first act takes place in a prison cell and prison yard, and in the world of the novel Don Quixote.
The second act takes place in the psychiatric ward designated for former inmates and inside the mind of Theo.
The play was directed by Yevgeni Arye and produced in Gesher Theatre, 2015
under the title: I, Don Quixote (an extanded version of the play for 22 actors)
International tours: Perm opera and Ballet Theater, Russia (2016), National Theater of China in Beijing (2017).
The play was directed by Polina Medvedeva in Teatro na Podoli in Kiev (2025).
An extract from the play
Translated from Hebrew
by Jeffery Ophir
