Richard Linklater directs this period drama set in the theatrical world of 1930s New York. Zac Efron stars as Richard Samuels, a young actor who finds himself thrown into the middle of the legendary Mercury Theatre Company the night before the opening of Orson Welles's historic staging of Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar'. Before a week is over, Richard is immersed in a unique and intense creative process, swept headlong into a romance with beautiful older woman Sonja Jones (Claire Danes), and learning the hard way how to handle the tempestuous nature of the brilliant egomaniac, Welles (Christian McKay).