Jonas Penrose wants nothing more than to have his plays performed on the stage of the Globe Theatre in London and to live in comfort with his mistress. Orphaned as a child and obliged to become a boy-player, by the 1630s he is struggling to make a living as an adult actor and has to accept any part he is offered. So it is that he reluctantly agrees to travel to a stately home outside London to perform in a masque celebrating the wedding of the beautiful young daughter of Lord Otway. But Jonas soon discovers that behind the scenes there is opposition to the marriage and that powerful people will apparently stop at nothing to prevent it taking place.