Leave it to Bill Raiten to make the impossible dream possible. As artistic director for the Training and Development Corp.’s Theatre Arts Works in Bucksport, Raiten has mounted a production of “Man of La Mancha” that is daring and delightful because of its youthful energy.

The show is about the poet Miguel de Cervantes, a tax collector who has foreclosed on a defaulting monastery and has consequently landed in prison during the Spanish Inquisition. Before he is officially tried, he must face a trial by the thieves and murderers who are his inmates. Possessing nothing but a trunk of theatrical costumes and props, he offers in his defense the story of Don Quixote, an honest knight-poet whose idealistic grasp on reality is anything but conventional. Quixote sees windmills as giants, inns as castles, and whores as ladies. His story shows the slippery relationship between reality and illusion.

The fascinating aspect of Raiten’s production of “Man of La Mancha” is the young actors and the demands they have made upon themselves to create an authentic and entertaining piece. And these aren’t just any actors. They are nearly 20 financially disadvantaged youths from Maine who have looked away from the difficulties that have touched their lives and toward the world of performance.

On Kenny Weinberg’s set, which reeked with the atmosphere of a dark, dank dungeon, these kids threw themselves into the roles of prisoners during the Spanish Inquistion. Wearing tattered clothes designed carefully by Elena Bourakovsky, the actors crawled, rollicked, sneered and fought. With accompaniment by Richard Pasvogel’s orchestra and choreography by Maureen Lynch and Keith Robinson, this troupe cooperated in a most unusual fashion.

As the spirit of the show grew, the occasional miscues, off-notes, or hasty timing became endearing rather than distracting. It was so completely apparent that these kids were combining good fun and hard work that appreciation for their endurance and bravery was nearly unavoidable. And each time a number ended, the applause evoked tiny smiles of accomplishment from the faces of the actors.

The principles — Larry Carney as Cervantes’ manservant and Sancho, Prentis Caudill as Dr. Carrasco and the Enchanter, Heather Sanborn as Aldonza and Dulcinea, Brian Grindle as the padre, and Jeremy West as the governor and innkeeper and even Lisa Haynes in the bit part of the barber — stretched themselves in imaginative ways that few kids their age are willing to do. And Rob Blake, in the lead roles of Cervantes and Don Quixote, held the show together with grace and dexterity.

When the two-hour, no-intermission performance ended, the several dozen people in the audience took away more than a lesson about reality and illusion. They took away a lesson about courage and accomplishment.

“Man of La Mancha” will be performed 8 p.m. Aug. 18-20 at the old bank building on the corner of Main and Federal streets in Bucksport. For tickets, call 469-6625.