Between the Acts takes place on one summer's day at a country house in the heart of England, where the villagers are presenting their annual pageant as World War II looms.

In the garden of Pointz Hall, the Oliver family's country seat, everyone from the village has gathered to present the traditional pageant - scenes from the history of England starting with the Middle Ages. As the story of England unfolds, the lives of the villagers also take shape. The past blends with the present and art blends with life in a narrative full of invention and lyricism.

Through her character's passionate musings and private dramas, and through the enigmatic figure of the pageant author, Miss La Trobe, Virginia Woolf's final novel both celebrates and satirizes Englishness. Even so, the coming of war hangs over the whole community, heralding a new act.