Humbling of Meredith Martin

What does a girl have to do to become a leading light on the London stage?

Meredith has sacrificed everything - family and the comforts and security of home - to become an actress. She has done her time in the provinces, she's toured the country from tip to toe, she's set the West End alight with her ground-breaking performances. And yet here she is, in 1906, finding herself yet again facing a void of no work and no prospects.

Could it be her haughty demeanour? Or her refusal to become a friendly company member? Could it even be - dreadful thought - that she has no talent?

With the arrival in town of an emissary of the great Stanislavsky Meredith's professional and personal life is about to be turned upside-down. Will she ever find her feet again? And if she does, will she be able to stand on them in the same way?

Sometimes disaster and upheaval can reap unexpected rewards. But it's a long and tough journey to a very surprising conclusion.