I just got back from Arkansas, where the workshop production of my show The Quest for Don Quixote went extremely well.

My show was the featured production at the Arkansas New Play Festival at TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, AR. The three weeks I was there gave me a fantastic opportunity to focus on the script.

The rewrites I made worked very well. I came into the second day of rehearsal bearing chocolate truffles for the two actresses because I cut two of their scenes from the first act. (Thankfully they didn’t hate me for too long. Ruby, the costume designer, is another story).

If you’ll allow me some bragging, we did five public performances and got five standing ovations. People came up to me after the shows to tell me that they laughed and laughed but were surprised that they cried at the end.

Laughter, tears, and standing ovations.

I’m very happy about that.

Here are some photos of the workshop. You can see more photos here.

Bill Rogers as Quixote and Bruce Warren as Sancho Panza.

Quixote and Sancho on the lookout for the evil enchanter Freston.

Quixote and Sancho getting ready for a night in the fields of Montiel. There’s a sun on the other side of the moon.

I believe Sancho is waxing poetic about Maritornes, a foul smelling nearly blind hunchbacked dwarf-like wench.

Ben being stabbed to death by Don Quixote. Or is he?

Quixote telling Sancho about the Knight of the Sun, who was bound and given an ice-water and sand enema.