Beryl Gore is a lonely orphan living and working at the Palace Theatre in London. Night after night, the company performs tales of guts and glory to an audience of drunken louts while young Beryl cranks the artificial wave machine, entranced by the drama. In her attic room, she pens her own melodrama, a bloody yarn of pirates and damsels where goodness is always rewarded. 

 

As Beryl enters adulthood, the theatre ages with her, becoming shabbier and emptier with each passing season. As theater-goers turn to fresh spectacles elsewhere, Beryl realizes her theatrical world is in trouble.