Composer Marijn Simons returns to Theater Aalen in October 2026 for the world premiere of his latest work, Don Quichotte. Following their successful collaboration on his chamber opera Woyzeck, the theater has commissioned Simons to compose the score for this production. His new music is crafted to sit thoughtfully between an intimate chamber opera and meaningful incidental music. The production will have an exclusive run of only six performances in late 2026. The world premiere will take place on Saturday, October 3, followed by four performances on October 9, 10, 30, and 31. The production will conclude with a special New Year’s Eve performance on Thursday, December 31. All stagings begin at 20:00. Marijn Simons’ Musical Vision In Don Quichotte, Marijn Simons’ score serves as a quiet psychological roadmap through the protagonist’s mind. For this piece, Simons utilizes a modern orchestration featuring live electric guitar, a loop station, audio tracks and a child singer. This musical choice subtly reflects the mechanics of memory, as musical themes are layered, repeated, and transformed live on stage. Through these sounds, the music makes audible the fragmented, poetic inner world of someone living with cognitive decline. The Story: Between Reality and Fiction Directed by Jan Jedenak, this production gently reframes Miguel de Cervantes’ classic epic within the quiet reality of a modern care facility. Michael is spending the final days of his life in a sober, everyday nursing home, where the present day has become unfamiliar to him. In his own mind, Michael is the knight-errant Don Quixote. He mistakes his visiting son, Sanjo, for his squire Sancho Panza, and views his caregiver as his housekeeper, Doña Belisa. When his son and the nurse decide to step into Michael’s delusion, the boundaries between reality and fiction begin to soften. Within the routines of daily care, tender moments of situational comedy and quiet beauty arise. Simons’ music weaves Cervantes’ literary motifs with biographical fragments of the old man’s actual past. Alongside gentle shadow puppetry by Robert Buschbacher and Anne Brüssau, the score uncovers the windmills, heroic battles, and nightly visions taking place beneath the surface.