A tale from fourteenth century England of a young priest Nicholas who breaks his vow of chastity and has to escape the wrath of his bishop and fellow monks. He stumbles across the murder of one of the performers in a group of travelling actors and subsequently ends up joining the troupe replacing the murdered man. When they arrive in a town to give a performance they hear that a boy has been killed and a young deaf-mute girl has been sentenced to death for witchcraft and murder. The troupe discover that the town knows that the girl did not commit the murder and the stage becomes the place where truths are told. Nicholas eventually comes to terms with his sins and makes a great sacrifice.