On the far side of middle age, Archie Rice lives in a British seaside resort with his father, retired successful vaudevillian Billy Rice, second wife Phoebe Rice, and doting son Frank Rice. Following in retired Billy's footsteps, Archie is a song-and-dance music hall headliner, with Frank supporting his dad as his shows' stage manager. The waning popularity of Archie's type of shows, a dying form of entertainment, is not helped by Archie's stale second rate material, which brings in small unappreciative crowds. Archie clings to his long held lifestyle, including heavy drinking and chronic infidelity, of which Phoebe is aware. What Archie has not told his offspring is that Phoebe was his mistress while he was still married to their now deceased mother. His want to be a music hall headliner is despite his financial problems, he an undischarged bankrupt who now signs Phoebe's name to everything. Phoebe wants them to escape this life to something more stable, such as the offer from her relations to manage a hotel in Ottawa, Canada, while Archie, always one step ahead of his creditors for his current show, wants to mount another for the winter season. Long suffering Phoebe often drowns her sorrows with booze. One person in their immediate family who has somewhat escaped their life is Archie's daughter, Jean Rice, an art school teacher in London, she who is still trying to find her place in the world. Her pre-engagement boyfriend Graham wants her to move to Africa with him for a job, which she is reluctant to do if only because of not yet being ready to leave her dysfunctional family behind, they who she still feels to need to watch over. Unlike Archie, Jean is more concerned about the fact of her brother Mick Rice just having been shipped overseas to fight in the Suez Crisis. Archie's steps in his determination to mount that new show, seemingly at any cost, may break the family apart once and for all. 戏剧院的悲惨三级喜剧演员阿奇被瘟疫蚕食，然而他却幸存下来，变得目中无人和唯利是图，他许久，开国际玩笑，说冷笑话，大声谈论性事，对政治豪放厥词。阿奇还引诱自己的父亲提前退休后拿他的退休金恶意投资，最终还是全军覆没，这样像狗屎一样的人生，他在用自己的方式演绎一个社会中的普通人，然而把他放大来看，其实他只是社会中的一名艺人而已。
