The life story of the titular Beaumarchais, playwright and adventurer, who gets himself into numerous different scrapes and romantic encounters in 18th Century France.

The true life story of Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, the son of a clockmaker, who writes "The Barber of Seville", works as a secret agent for the French king, runs guns to the American revolutionaries, and along the way finds himself on a collision course with the Chevalier d'Eon, France's notorious cross-dressing superspy.—Nichol