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.
The drama of the secret of Mrs Alving's marriage and the dreadful legacy bequeathed to her son Oswald.
Stanley, a pianist, lives in a cheap boarding-house near the sea and never talks about himself. But the past catches up with him when Mr. Goldberg and Mr. McCann arrive - clearly, they don't wish him well.