The play tells the story of playwright and poet Miguel de Cervantes who has been thrown into a dungeon in Seville to await trial by the Inquisition. When his fellow prisoners confiscate his uncompleted manuscript of a novel called Don Quixote, Cervantes seeks to save it by proposing to entertain the inmates. He and his faithful manservant transform themselves into Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, acting out the poignant story of a dying old man whose impossible dream takes over his mind.