The Peterborough Players season finale of “Man of La Mancha” provides a glimpse into the need for hope, even when hope seems mad, and the hunger for art in the human soul. It is sure to be a hit among its already sold-out audience for its two-week run.

The play opens in a gathering area for prisoners awaiting to be taken away and put to the question by the Spanish Inquisition. Many have been reduced to simply hoping that the next time the door opens, it is not them taken away.

Luckily for them, the next time the door opens it is not to remove a prisoner, but to add two – the poet and writer Miguel de Cervantes and his servant, imprisoned for foreclosing on a church in their role as tax collectors. He is put on trial by the prisoners for crimes including being an idealist and a bad poet, with a guilty verdict resulting in the forfeiture of all his worldly goods – and thus, a pretty foregone conclusion. Cervantes puts on, in his defense, a performance of his latest work, the tale of a aging country squire who longs for the pure ideals of the chivalrous knight, and dons the persona of Don Quixote to fight giants disguised as windmills and protect a fair lady.

While its large cast each gets moments to shine, the play is held up by the three pillars of longtime television, film and stage star Scott Bakula as Cervantes/Quixote, his wife and fellow television and film veteran Chelsea Field as Aldonza, dubbed by Quixote as the fair Dulcinea; and Quixote’s faithful squire, Sancho, played by Kraig Swartz.

Bakula hits all the right notes as Quixote, a man whose madness is defined by his idealistic dream. From the achingly sweet and longing “Dulcinea” to the triumph of “The Impossible Dream” and “Man of La Mancha (I, Don Quixote),” Bakula’s Broadway and off-Broadway chops are on full display.

His voice a bit more weathered than those who may recall his “Man of La Mancha” medley as performed during his days playing Sam Beckett in television’s “Quantum Leap,” Bakula is a standout, with his warm tones that create a beautiful vision of Quixote’s quest – to dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe and to follow that star, no matter how hopeless.

As Aldonza, a tavern kitchen girl who is paid for her favors on the side, Field gets to play with both Aldonza’s sharp and prickly personality and the vulnerability she shows as Quixote’s devotion pricks at her armor. From the cutting “It’s All the Same,” as Aldonza picks the best candidate for a night in the hay from a group of mule drivers, to the contemplative and soaring “What Does He Want of Me” and the despairing “Aldonza,” Field gets to explore a range of emotions in the role, as Quixote begins to give her what she lacks most – hope.

Swartz as Sancho adds a bit of levity to the production. He injects humor into “The Missive,” where Sancho attempts to recite a letter from Quixote to Aldonza (or rather, his lady Dulcinea) and “A Little Gossip,” where Sancho attempts to revive his ailing lord. But he also brings a rather human side in “I Really Like Him,” as he attempts to explain to Aldonza why he stays at the side of a man so clearly mad.

Despite a cast of 20 on the small Players stage, most of the time the majority of actors are acting as ensemble, pulled out center stage in highlight roles as needed and never making the stage feel crowded. When the ensemble comes together for a song (“Little Bird, Little Bird,” “Golden Helmet of Mambrino,” “Finale”) the music swells to the rafters of the Players barn in that way only choruses can.

Among the standouts is Gabriel Rodrigues as the Padre, with a notable performance of one of the final songs of the play, “The Psalm,” along with Angelika Menendez as Quixote’s niece Antonia and Victoria Adams-Zischke as Quixote’s housekeeper, who worry that Quixote’s madness may have dire consequences in their own lives, though as they assure, “I’m Only Thinking of Him.”

Under the stage, a live orchestra backs the ensemble, led by conductor and pianist Tim Goss, with Robert Bekkers on guitar, Ezzie Stone on drums and percussion, Daniel Walker on trombone, Craig Sylvern on reeds, Kevin Tran on bass and Nick Hill on trumpet. The music adds a special quality that you can’t find outside of live performances, but never overwhelms the performers, making this performance a special experience.

A shley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledger tran script.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.