Victor Derval is returning home after a performance when he is hailed by Lisa, a young Hungarian woman. Her motives are mysterious; is she simply a star-struck peasant girl, or an ambitious, manipulative aspiring star?

Tania, a young actress, puts everything at stake for her starring role in Dotez's play. But Dotez, blocked and hostile to Tania, only frees himself as the rehearsals progress, while his actress is exhausted in her daily life, divided between Yan, her lover, and Lila, his little daughter.