In an unnamed country at an unspecified time, the Barbarians seize power in a bloodless coup. Insidiously, they take over institutions, reintroducing slavery with the weak crushed and democracy dead. Adrian, a playwright/artistic director, fears for theatre's survival and sells his soul to provide the bloodthirsty, crude, vulgar fare the Barbarians demand - a gala performance of Oedipus with the actor on stage literally blinded and Richard III with a real death.