Charlie, a curious boy with a dangerous Dictaphone habit, eavesdrops on the eccentric guests of the Mirage Hotel as the African nation of Bwalo prepares for the annual appearance of its Glorious Leader Tafumo.
Sean, an Irishman who's given his heart (and the best part of his liver) to Bwalo, struggles to write the great African novel - if only his crazed fiancee and fierce thirst would stop distracting him.
Josef, mythmaker and kingmaker, who paved the way for Tafumo's rise to power, starts to hear the ominous rattle of skeletons in his closet.
Hope, the nurse caring for the King, keeps the old man alive, maintaining the facade of the powerful ruler, as she mourns her own broken dreams.
And in the countdown to the Big Day, storm clouds are gathering as petty criminal Jack smuggles something into Bwalo - to the Mirage Hotel - that will change the lives of all of them forever.