London, 1897. Edmund Jeffers is the most influential actor-manager of his day and in line for a well-earned knighthood. His theatre, the Colosseum, is a national institution. But there is a seamier side to London life with which Edmund is very familiar. His private life and public persona are two separate entities and when these two worlds collide he is thrown into a maelstrom of his own making. As he attempts to recover what has been lost, all those close to him are forced to re-evaluate their relationship to him and their own lives. While his wife Violet sets out to establish herself in a male world at any cost, his brilliant leading lady Marguerite Davenport is forced to face her own demons. Isolated, his career and his theatre in jeopardy, Edmund decides to take a drastic step.