Anonymous

London around 1600: Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, is an educated man with a closet full of secretly written plays. As a member of the aristocracy, he cannot have his works performed publicly in Elizabethan England. The playwright Ben Jonson is supposed to take over - for a fee and under his own name. Jonson agrees and also relies on the uncouth actor William Shakespeare. Meanwhile, Edward learns of a plot against the queen: her most important advisor, William Cecil, wants to install the Scottish King James of the House of Stuart as Elizabeth's successor - behind her back. Edward himself was banished from court many years ago after an affair with Elizabeth. Through his plays, performed by Ben Jonson and his fellow actors, he wants to make himself noticed, influence politics, and prevent a bloody conflict. But he underestimates his opponents, William Cecil and his son, in whose house he was raised as a young man.