The play tells the story of a real historical figure—the 19th-century English actor Edmund Kean—his life, his fame, and his downfall. Remaining faithful to Shakespeare’s famous dictum, he holds a mirror up to nature, showing virtue its own image, scorn its own face, and the very age and body of the time its form and character. In the 19th century, Edmund Kean did this; today, it is done by the play’s director and leading actor, Hrachya Harutyunyan.