Danilo is a theater director, obsessed by the injustice done to farmer Manoel da Motta Coqueiro in the trial case that led to the extinction of death penalty in Brazil. Enticed by a gorgeous and mysterious woman, Danilo rehearses a play about Motta Coqueiro. While he plays Motta Coqueiro himself, the other characters are played by patients of a mental hospital. As the boundaries of reality and fiction overlap, Danilo finds himself in the footsteps of his character, well aware of the tragic outcome of the historical facts.