The English-language debut of French director Arnaud Desplechin, Esther Kahn charts the ascension of a lower-class Jewish girl from a turn-of-the-century London ghetto to one of the stage's leading actresses. Esther (Summer Phoenix) feels set apart from her large, raucous family, who are all employed in the garment business. Her life is changed when she attends a Yiddish theatre performance, and she is suddenly determined to become an actress. After joining a small theatre company, she becomes the protégé of Nathan (Ian Holm), a stage veteran who instructs her in her chosen craft. Esther gradually works her way up in the ranks -- taking a lover, brainy French theatre critic Philippe (Fabrice Desplechin), along the way -- until she is cast in the title role of Hedda Gabler, which she performs to great acclaim.