Our play today is a story of everyone's memories, and has long been regarded as a classic. Our story begins in the year 1807. A young lieutenant Philip Nolan has been tried on charges rising out of his participation in a plot against the government of the United States - a plot instigated by Aaron Burr. The evidence against Nolan has been conclusive, and as our curtain rises, the presiding officer of the trial has summoned the prisoner to face the court.