In 1846, Anthony Hope sails into London with the mysterious Sweeney Todd, a once-naive barber whose life and marriage was uprooted by a corrupt justice system. Todd confides in Nellie Lovett, the owner of a local meat pie shop, and the two become partners, as Todd swears revenge on those that have wronged him and decides to take up his old profession.

More than one hundred blind or severely visually impaired actors, members of ONCE theater companies, perform eleven stories based on theatrical texts by a wide variety of authors, guided by Lucius, a blind Roman who wants to become an actor, and Thalia, the Greek muse of comedy.