Against the turbulent backdrop of England during the Middle Ages, a priest (Bettany), on the run from his disgraceful past, encounters a ragtag band of traveling actors who are searching for their next performance. Soon after arriving at an unknown villiage, the troupe discovers that a mute woman has been sentenced to death for the murder of a local boy. To seek out the truth, the leader of the actors (Dafoe) decides to break tradition of performing biblical plays and stages a performance based on the alleged facts of the crime.