In 1907, the young boy Alexander, his sister Fanny and their well-to-do family, the Ekdahls, live in a Swedish town and run a moderately profitable theatre. At Christmas and holiday season, the Ekdahls hold a Nativity play and later a large Christmas party. The siblings' parents, Emilie and Oscar, are happily married until Oscar suddenly dies from a stroke. Shortly thereafter, Emilie marries Edvard Vergérus, the local bishop and a widower, and moves into his home where he lives with his mother, sister, aunt and maids.