Liverpool, 1950. Stella Bradshaw never knew her father and was abandoned at an early age by her mother. Now she lives with her Uncle Vernon and Auntie Lil. Uncle Vernon encourages her theatrical aspirations, hoping this will channel her fiery temperament and enormous energy. She gets a job as assistant manager at the Liverpool Playhouse, and falls in love - or imagines she does - with the charismatic actor/manager Meredith Potter. As the company's production of “Peter Pan” approaches, actor PL O'Hara is summoned back to Liverpool to play Captain Cook. He is intigued by the blossoming Stella, and she loses her virginity to him. But she also loses a little more of her innocence as the company's somewhat sordid personal dramas are played out in front of her wide open eyes.