Note: This musical is a fictional story about the author, Cervantes, and it includes episodes from his novel Don Quixote which are given in the form of a play-within-a-play. In the synopsis below, the action of the inner play is in italics.

The entire play takes place in the common room of a prison in Seville. It is usually shown as below ground and reached by a stairway which is raised and lowered to give access from above. A trapdoor in the floor leads to a still lower level for the more serious criminals. Originally written to be performed without interruption, current productions often insert one intermission.

After an overture, the scene opens to show prisoners huddled around the stage. The door above opens to admit the Captain of the Inquisition, soldiers, and Cervantes and his manservant who is carrying a trunk.

Cervantes addresses the other prisoners asking their pardon for this intrusion but saying he will not be with them long. When he mentions the Inquisition the other prisoners attack him but are stopped by the "Governor", the leader of the prisoners, who has been awakened by the noise. Introducing himself as Don Miguel de Cervantes the prisoners realize he is a gentleman, but he says he is an impoverished poet.

The "Governor" says it is time to get on with the mock trial to which they subject all new prisoners. If Cervantes is found guilty, he will be deprived of all his possessions. He protests that the contents of the trunk are costumes and properties, necessary to his livelihood as an actor. He further begs them to leave him the package he is holding — so of course they open it, finding a manuscript which they prepare to burn. Cervantes demands his trial before they do this and the "court" convenes. Asked why he is to appear before the Inquisition he says it is not for heresy but because he had been a tax collector for the government and issued a lien on a monastery when they did not pay. He is declared guilty, but he insists on his right to present a defense. It will be in the form of a play in which they can all take part. As he describes the character he will play, he transforms himself, using the contents of his trunk. He will play Alonso Quijana, a country squire who has immersed himself in books of chivalry to the extent he has become crazy and imagines himself to be the knight-errant Don Quixote de La Mancha who sallies forth to right wrongs. His servant becomes Sancho Panza (I am I, Don Quixote). They mount two "horses" (flamenco dancers with wooden frames attached).

We are now within the inner play.

Don Quixote tells Sancho Panza what their life will be like on their quest. There will be knights, wizards, vast armies and, most dangerous of all, The Great Enchanter. When the shadow of a windmill is projected across the stage. Don Quixote thinks it is a giant, the evil ogre Matagoger, who has four arms. In spite of Sancho's protests that it is a windmill, not a girant, Don Quixote charges off stage to do combat. Sounds of battle are heard and soon the battered Don crawls back claiming The Enchanter turned the giant into a windmill at the last moment. Deciding he lost because he was never dubbed a proper knight, he sets off to find someone to do this. Spying a run-down inn in the distance, he announces it is a castle where he can certainly get dubbed.

Dropping out of character, Cervantes assigns roles to various prisoners including the "Governor" as the Innkeeper and a woman as Aldonza.

As the muleteers chant her name, Aldonza "an alley-cat of a woman" enters and contemptuously responds to the men who are vying for her attention (One pair of arms is like another). As the Innkeeper enters, the sound of a bugle is heard announcing the arrival of Don Quixote who demands to see the Lord of the castle. Sancho Panza introduces his master as a knight-errant who is seeking hospitality. While he realizes the Don is mad, the Innkeeper offers him food. Just then Aldonza enters and Quixote takes her for a lady, his Dulcinea (I have dreamed thee too long). As the Muleteers mock "Dulcinea", the Innkeeper leads the "knight" to his "quarters".

Another prisoner, the "Duke", protests that Cervantes's "defense" is only a diversion. However, the "Governor" allows him to continue. He sets a scene in Alonso Quijana's village, appointing prisoners to play the roles of his niece Antonia, his housekeeper, and the Padre.

Antonia and the housekeeper go to the church to seek advice from the Padre, and they piously protest that they are only thinking of the Don (I'm only thinking of him).

Cervantes continues his exposition: Antonia's fiancé, Doctor Sansón Carrasco (to be played by the "Duke"), a self-important graduate of the University of Salamanca, enters.

They discuss Don Quijana's condition. Carrasco is concerned for himself, if he marries Antonia, he will have a madman in the family. The Padre says it is only a "gentle delusion" and challenges Carrasco to join him in following the "madman" and convincing him to return home.

Cervantes now sets a scene in the kitchen where Aldonza is seated.

Sancho approaches with a "missive" for her. Since she does not know what a missive is and can not read, he recites the contents which he has learned by heart. (Quixote had taught it to him because he knew noble women are so busy with their embroidery they have no time to learn to read.) Angry at being called Dulcinea and being addressed as "my lady", Aldonza reacts scornfully to the letter's contents which, in addition to its lavish praise of her beauty and purity, asks for a token carry into battle. She gives Sancho a dirty dish cloth as her "silken scarf". She then asks Sancho why he follows his madman of a master. He responds in the song, "I like him" then leaves .

The muleteers enter and sing for her attention (Little bird). Pedro, their leader sees the paper in her hand and snatches it from her announcing it is a letter. Beginning to fall under the spell of the "madman", she indignantly replies it is a missive. When Anselmo starts to read it, she becomes angry and exits. Carrasco and the Padre enter and indicate to the maid that they wish to see Don Quixote. He soon appears wondering who seeks his help — is it from giants, from enchantment, or from a besieging army? To their surprise, he recognizes his friends. Carrasco tries to persuade him that there have been no knights for three hundred years.

     Quixote: So learned, yet so misinformed.
     Carrasco: These are the facts.
     Quixote: Facts are the enemy of the truth.

Sancho returns and gives him ALdonza's dirty dish rag which Quixote thinks is "pure gossamer". Just then a barber appears wearing his shaving basin on his head. Don Quixote mistakes the basin for the helmet of Mambrino (Oh, I am a little barber). In turn, the barber is amused to see what appears to be a knight in full armor. The "knight" demands he hand over the helmet which makes the wearer invincible to all wounds. Donning it he sings "Golden Helmet of Mambrino" during which all the others leave.

When the Innkeeper comes in, Don Quixote confesses he has never actually been dubbed a knight and asks to hold his vigil that night in the castle chapel and to be dubbed by the "lord of the castle" in the morning. When he is told the "chapel" is being repaired, he decides to fast and to hold his vigil in the courtyard. They exit.

The Padre and Dr. Carrasco return, still trying to think of a way to cure their friend, and the Padre sings "To each his Dulcinea" about dreams.

Alone Don Quixote begins his vigil by resolving how he shall live. When he refers to Dulcinea, Aldonza appears, complains again about being called by that name and asks why he acts as he does.

Quixote: I hope to add some measure of grace to the world.
Aldonza: The world's a dungheap and we are maggots crawling on it. ...
Quixote: Whether I win or lose does not matter.
Aldonza: What does?
Quixote: Only that I follow the quest
Aldonza: ... What does it mean – quest.

He answers with "To dream the impossible dream".

To dream the impossible dream,
To fight the unbeatable foe,
To bear with unbearable sorrow,
To run where the brave dare not go.

To right the unrightable wrong,
To love, pure and chaste, from afar.
To try, when your arms are too weary,
To reach the unreachable star!

This is my Quest, to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far,
To fight for the right without question or pause,
To be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause!

And I know, if I'll only be true to this glorious quest,
That my heart will be peaceful and calm when I'm laid to my rest.

And the world will be better for this,
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach the unreachable stars!

Aldonza pleads with him to see her as she is, but he sees only purity. As she runs from him she meets Pedro who has been waiting for her. When the muleteer strikes her, Quixote comes to her rescue, knocking him to the ground. The others muleteers appear and, in a free-for-all, the knight, with the aid of Aldonza and Sancho, manages to send them all sprawling wounded before collapsing himself. The Innkeeper tells Quixote he must leave as soon as he can. He promises to go in the morning once he is dubbed with the added name of The Knight of the Woeful Countenance (Hail, Knight of the Woeful Countenance). Before he goes to bed, Quixote insists on helping his fallen enemies; nobility demands it! Again Aldonza helps him and, while doing so, is captured by the muleteers and taken away.

At the sound of the approaching men of the Inquisition, the play is brought to a halt while they descend to the lower prison, bring up a prisoner, and take him up the stairs. Cervantes then tells the others something of his life as a soldier and a captive slave. To a reprise of "I am I, Don Quixote", he returns to playing the character.

A band of Moors appears and a girl performs a provocative dance encouraged by one of the men. In Quixote's eyes she is an innocent, the man is her brother, and they are children of a noble African lord who has been captured. They are seeking money to help ransom him. After Don Quixote gives her money, he and Sancho are robbed of all their possessions including their horses. Discovering their loss they return to the inn and are reluctantly admitted by the innkeeper.

Aldonza appears, bruised and in rags. The muleteers have abused her; she is bitter against life and is not Don Quixote's lady! (I was spawned in a ditch) Once more she begs the knight to see her as she really is. As she collapses, a strange procession appears, led by another knight, The Knight of the Mirrors wearing chain mail on which are many little mirrors which dazzle the eyes. His head is entirely covered by a helmet and mask. He mocks Quixote as a charlatan who in turn identifies him as The Enchanter. As they fight, the other knight's attendants hold up mirrors and insist Don Quixote see himself as he really is, an aging fool and a madman. Still insisting he is a knight, he falls to the ground defeated. The Knight of the Mirrors reveals his face; he is Dr. Carrasco who has used this ploy to try to find a cure for the madness. As Quixote huddles on the floor, we go back to the reality of the prison.

We are in Alonso Quijana's bedroom where his alter ego, Don Quixote, lies in a coma attended by the Padre, Dr. Carrasco and Antonia. Sancho enters and ask if he can speak to his master. They allow it as long as he doesn't speak of knight-errantry. He begins to talk (A Little Gossip), telling how his wife greeted him when he returned home. He then confesses he has missed their adventures together. This arouses Alonso, who is now in his right mind, thinking all the adventures were in his dreams. Realizing he is dying, he asks to make his will. His recital is interrupted by the arrival of Aldonza. The others try to make her leave, but she persists, and Alonso, although he does not recognize her, insists she be given the courtesy of speaking to him. Then, when she reminds him of Dulcinea and about his Quest, he slowly he joins her in singing "The Impossible Dream". Remembering, he tries to rise, calls for his armor and starts to sing "I am I, Don Quixote", before falling to the floor dead. While, the Padre chants the Psalm "De profundis" (From the depths), Aldonza says a man has died but Don Quixote did not die. When Sancho addresses her as Aldonza, she quietly replies, "My name is Dulcinea".

When the Men of the Inquisition enter to summon Cervantes, he asks the "Governor" for the verdict of his court. Realizing the papers Cervantes had held were his story of Don Quixote, he returns them to the author, telling him that, if he pleads as well before the Inquisitors as he has before the prisoners, he might not burn. Responding, "I've no intention of burning", Cervantes is led to the stairs. The "Governor" observes, "I think Don Quixote is brother to Don Miguel". Smiling, the author answers, "God help us — we are both men of La Mancha". As he is led away Aldonza softly begins to sing "The Impossible Dream". All except the "Duke" join her as the play ends.

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Don: Don is an honorific reserved for people of noble lineage. Although Cervantes was relatively poor, he was entitled to use it. On the other hand, Alonso Quijana is not, although he assumes it when he calls himself Don Quixote.

In the novel Don Quixote, Sancho rides a mule, not a horse. His relationship with his mule is one of the themes of the book.

Spanish inns of the time had a very poor reputation. They were primarily for the care and feeding of animals with good stables. However, accomodations for humans, including beds, were nearly non-existent. Thus, the fact that Don Quixote would mistake an inn for a castle would be extremely humorous to early readers of the book, a joke not apparent to modern audiences.

Knights: As a matter of fact, while they no longer went to battle, as in the olden days, there were, and still are, knights throughout Europe.

This is a different barber, not the one from Don Quixote's home town, a major character in the novel who does not appear in the play.

Mambrino was a Moorish king in Ariosto's Orlando furioso. Orlando takes his golden helmet from him.

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Revised September 2007
Please credit Lyric Opera San Diego when using this material.