Ann Williams, secretary to eccentric drama critic Frederick Skeates, is persuaded to alter a ruinous review of Shakespearean actor Edmund Davey by Davey's wife Barbara. Davey's 'Othello' becomes a hit and Ann, even though fired by Skeates, becomes a fan of Davey and starts to fall for him, much to the jealousy of her boyfriend Tommy. At the prospect of involvement in an adulterous triangle, Ann recoils; but despite her resolution, the characters' love lives become ever more tangled and a real-life tragedy of Othello looms