Georg Dreyman is a major playright in GDR. His plays are popular in part due to the fact that he tries not to stir any controversy with party leadership that censors all the plays. Some of Dreyman's close friends, however, are forbidden from work, because they fell into disgrace with the officials. Because of this, Dreyman is becoming more disparate from his earlier safe stands. However, even his clean past does not save him from the cruelty of the system as minister Hempf gets the Stasi to monitor his apartment. Hempf is trying to dig up dirt on Dreyman so that he can get Dreyman's girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland all to himself.Dreyman is a member of a close cultural circle, where dissident moods are frequent, but still not very organized at the time the events take place. The might of state security is humbling among his friends and most of them seem to realize that there is very little they can do. Even though Dreyman eventually realizes that he has to resist the system himself, he chooses to do it anonymously via a Western publication.