Michael harbors an ambition to direct Macbeth and gets his chance with the autumn production of The Shellsfoot Thespians. He encounters problems from finding enough men to telling grande dame Geraldine she is not to play Lady Macbeth, despite her offered bribe which would pay production costs. He casts his wife in the part opposite Frank, with whom she is having an affair (unbeknownst to Michael). It soon appears that the jinx surrounding the play extends to amateur productions and to Michael's life, but he remains determined to get the show on at any cost that includes his job, his wife and finding a new venue when banned from the church hall.|7 women, 6 men