Don Quixote (is a very big book) at Pleasance Courtyard

Veteran puppeteer, clown and audience whisperer Dik Downey makes his Edinburgh Fringe debut at the age of 63 in this one-man show, placing his own mid-life crisis deep in the heart of Don Quixote's impossible dreams in a touching and funny reflection on the joys and indignities of growing old. Downey hurtles through all 939 pages of the 1605 novel in just 55 minutes, accompanied by puppets Sancho Panza and Rocinante, in scenes of slapstick, clowning and puppet manipulation. The show was written and devised by Emma Williams, Dik Downey and Chris Collier, with an original score by composer Simon Preston, and was created over six weeks in Stamsund, Norway, home of co-producers Nordland Visual Theatre.