Young Will Shakespeare is the up and coming playwright of the time, but has been disastrously struck by the bane of the writer's life - writer's block. His comedy "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter" isn't going anywhere and the playhouse is under threat of closure. What Will needs is a muse, and she appears in the form of the beautiful and bethrothed Lady Viola. The path of true love does not run smooth for Will, but the joys and tragedy of his own life find their way onto the page in a moving, witty and spellbinding tale.