Tariq Ali s latest play, "The New Adventures of DonQuixote," can be read as an homage to German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht as much as a playful tribute to Cervantes s masterwork. The central characters from the original novel, DonQuixoteand Sancho Panza, are mounted on their beasts of burden, Rocinante and the Mule, and Ali has them ride into the twenty-first century, where they are confronted by old, familiar vices: war, greed, ethnic and religious prejudices, disappointed love, and economic crisis. Amid the satirical and sad songs, there are odd moments of happiness for Quixote,...