“I will have poetry in my life. And adventure. And love. Love above all.”

Penniless and struggling young playwright William Shakespeare is tormented by writer’s block, until he meets the beautiful Viola de Lesseps, whose fiery passion for poetry and drama leaves her secretly longing to be an actor. But Viola’s father has promised her to Lord Wessex, in order to gain a title for their family. Under a veil of secrecy, Will and Viola’s passionate love affair becomes the basis of the very play he is writing. With both opening night and the wedding day fast approaching, will it all work out in the end or are the two star-crossed lovers destined for tragedy?