One hot June day in London in 1923, the elegant and vivacious Clarissa Dalloway prepares for an evening party, reminiscing about childhood romance, and dwelling on her daughter Elizabeth's rapidly-approaching adulthood. Meanwhile, the shell-shocked Septimus Warren Smith hears the birds in Regent's Park chattering in Greek. There seems to be nothing to link the two: she is middle-aged and prosperous, with a sheltered, happy life behind her; whilst he teeters on the brink of madness, slowly spiralling towards self-annihilation. Yet their two spheres are about to collide...