Thousands watched this “performance.” None of them knew it was real.

Onstage, Canio always plays the fool – his character, the betrayed husband in a comic farce. But when he discovers that his wife Nedda is having an affair in real-life, the clown’s heartbreak cannot stay hidden behind a mask of greasepaint and forced smiles. Yet the show must go on.

The audience laughs, unaware that comedy is about to turn to tragedy. Canio’s jealousy takes him off script, and the boundary between performance and reality is shattered in a shocking crime of passion.