Theater: The Misery of Alonso Quijano: preview in Guadix on 9 May

The Misery of Alonso Quijano arrives in Guadix for its preview next Saturday, May 9, 2026, and tickets are now on sale. At Quo Wadis Tours, a guided tours company in Guadix, we want to share this essential cultural event: a night of classical theater in the heart of our city, starring Genís Campillo and directed by Jorge Gurpegui. A play that will soon reach Madrid, but one you can experience first here, in Guadix.

What is The Misery of Alonso Quijano?

The Misery of Alonso Quijano is a 70-minute monologue born from the delirium, memory, and twilight of an actor who refuses to accept that Spanish classical theater could also fade away. A deep tribute to the Golden Age, to verse, to Cervantes’ Don Quixote, and to an entire cultural tradition that shaped Europe for centuries.

The title is no coincidence: Alonso Quijano is the true name of Don Quixote, the nobleman from La Mancha who goes mad from reading too many books of chivalry. Here, he becomes the perfect metaphor for an artist who has built his entire identity within classical theater and now finds himself on the brink of extinction along with the world he loved.

Synopsis: Between Lucidity and Shadows

The play presents us with a performer who, in his years of glory, brought to life the great characters of the Spanish Golden Age repertoire: Segismundo, the Comendador, Calisto—immortal figures from the theater of Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca, and Tirso de Molina. An actor who knew the verses by heart and found in the stage his reason for being, his home, and his deepest identity.

Now, secluded or simply forgotten, this same man revives his characters within four walls. He waits. He waits for a visit from someone who will make him feel again, who will remember him, who will confirm that what he lived was real and worth it. But his audience is gone. The crowd that once saw him triumph, that stood and cheered, that idolized him, now watches—from the distance of oblivion—his agony.

And in that space between lucidity and shadows, between delirium and memory, between what was and what can no longer be, this extraordinary monologue unfolds. A work that speaks not only of a man but of Spanish classical theater itself: its grandeur and its fragility, and what we lose when we let a tradition die.

The Artistic Team

Genís Campillo on Stage

The monologue rests entirely on Genís Campillo, who takes on the challenge of sustaining alone, for 70 minutes, a text that requires navigating between rationality and delirium, between grandeur and collapse. A long-breath acting performance that connects directly with the tradition of Spanish text-based theater.

The direction by Jorge Gurpegui, assisted by Tatiana Riera, builds a scenic space where classical verse and contemporary emotion coexist without tension. A commitment to theatrical rigor and honesty that is evident from the first minute.

Why You Shouldn’t Miss This Preview in Guadix

Guadix, the Perfect Setting for Classical Theater

There is something especially poetic about The Misery of Alonso Quijano premiering in Guadix. A city that has witnessed history for centuries, preserving the traces of ancient Rome, Al-Andalus, and the Spanish Renaissance. A city where time moves differently, and where classical theater doesn’t sound like a museum piece, but like something living and necessary.

Guadix is not just the city of cave houses, the imposing Moorish fortress, or the cathedral that blends late Gothic and exuberant Baroque. Guadix is also a city with a genuine and active cultural life, capable of hosting shows of the caliber of The Misery of Alonso Quijano before they reach the major capitals.

At Quo Wadis Tours, we have spent years showing visitors from all over Spain and the world that this city in northern Granada has much more to offer than any guidebook could summarize. Theater is part of Guadix’s soul, and events like this remind us that our city deserves to be experienced, not just visited.

Where and How to Book

The preview of The Misery of Alonso Quijano in Guadix will take place at the Guil Cultural Contemporáneo, located at Plaza de Pachecos 3. This is a leading cultural space in Guadix, with an intimate scale ideal for a play of this nature.

We recommend booking in advance: capacity is limited and this play has all the ingredients to sell out. Don’t wait until the last minute.