The American War of Independence is in its second year. Its effects are reaching into the smallest communities, affecting the lives of all in them.
In Dr Prentice's Home for the Disturbed, it is a toss-up which are the crazier—patients or administrators.
The aristocratic Miss Julie plays with fire on Midsummer's Eve by flirting with her father's servant Jean, only to find that she is soon completely within his power.
To his staff, John Garrard is a frenzied workaholic. During a busy trade fair in Frankfurt, his passion for work changes all their lives.
Helene Alving leads an outwardly contented life. On the eve of the 10th anniversary of her husband's death, she is about to open an orphanage as a memorial to him. To mark this occasion, her bohemian painter son Oswald has returned from Paris. Helene plans to take the opportunity to tell Oswald the truth about his father. But ghosts of the past erupt during an eventful evening, bringing the facade of civilised family life crashing down.
It is Stanley's birthday; but the party he is given is not quite what he expects.