The play begins with Phaedra, a fifteen year old girl dressed as a fairy singing in allusion that Jerusalem has been built on dark grounds. We are brought to St. George's Day, which is also the day of the local county fair and a woman Fawcett and man, Parsons come to Johnny 'Rooster' Byron's mobile home in order to serve him with a notice of eviction. Byron does not come out, instead pretends to have a dog inside growling at them. They leave the eviction notice. Byron comes out to make himself a breakfast of milk, vodka, speed and an egg which he guzzles down. The rest of the scene we are introduced to multiple characters that we learn come to Johnny in order to party and get drugs. Ginger, Lee--who is leaving for Australia the next day at 6am, the Professor who is still searching for his dead wife, and Tanya and Pea who crawl out from underneath Johnny's trailer covered in badger feces.
We learn that Phaedra the Queen of last years fair has run away after being rejected from entering a bar a few nights before. Byron's mobile home in the forest is a place where the youth of the community come to party, which he allows. Wesley, who operates a local bar comes to Byron's camper in order to tell him that the police are gearing up to evict him forcefully if they have to, and everyone knows it. There have been town hall meetings where people have given their testimony about why Johnny should be evicted. We are then introduced to Marky, Johnny's six year old son and Dawn, the mother of Johnny's child. Johnny has forgotten that he was meant to take Marky to the fair today, and Dawn must take him. Which she does but not before she does a couple of lines of cocaine.
After Dawn leaves we learn from Lee that there are ley lines running through the forest, and then Johnny challenges everyone to a game of Trivial Pursuit for money. Johnny answers all of the questions, sometimes before they are even asked. We learn that Johnny once was a motorcycle stuntman and broke every bone in his body, he even died trying to jump semi trucks. The coroners pronounced him dead and even covered him with a sheet. He then got up and walked his broken body to buy himself a beer.
Johnny then tells everyone that he once met a 90 foot giant who built stonehenge. And the giant left him a drum, said that if he ever needed help to play it and all of the ancient giants would come to help him. Ginger doesn't believe him, but when Johnny tells him he's sitting on the drum he dares him to bang it. Ginger won't, but Lee wants to. Troy, Phaedra's stepfather then shows up before he can and demands to know where Phaedra is. Johnny tells him he doesn't know, but Tony believes she's staying with him. Johnny then recalls a story about how Troy used to come around until they did a ceremony with cards with devils on them and wine which scared Tony so bad he never came back.
Troy then counters Johnny's tale with one about how Johnny had passed out and everyone started pissing all over him and in his mouth, and Davey, one of Johnny's friends filmed the whole thing. And, everyone that has been hanging with Johnny has seen the photos and no one has said anything. Johnny goes quiet and walks off. We learn the story is true.
Lee and Davey return later, at 5 o'clock. Lee is there to apologize to Johnny, but he doesn't come to the door. Johnny then appears and Wesley comes back from working at the bar to raise hell about how he is being treated by the people he works with. Once he clears off, Fawcett and Parsons return with their video camera in order to give Johnny one last chance to leave peacefully before the police come down and evict him by force. Johnny won't go, he burns their eviction notice. They leave, and the police are preparing their batons to seize the property from Johnny. Phaedra exits from Johnny's mobile home and wants him to dance with her. She is only going to be Queen of the fair for another five minutes. Johnny initially refuses, but then agrees. As he is dancing with Phaedra, Troy appears with two men, a blow torch and a brand. They take Johnny into the trailer against his will and brand an 'x' on each of his cheeks and leave. Ginger saw Johnny being dragged inside and ran away, only to return after they branded him. Johnny makes it clear to Ginger that they are not friends and Ginger leaves.
Marky appears and Johnny brings his son near in order to tell him some very important things. He says that he has a rare blood type, Romany blood, the rarest. And, doctors pay him 600 pounds every six weeks to get this blood from him. He tells him this so that if he is every in a pinch or his back's up against a wall he will have that to rely on. Johnny then tells his son as much as he can about life, that "School is a lie. Prison's a waste of time. Girls are wondrous...Don't listen to no one and nothing but what your own heart bids. Lie. Cheat. Steal. Fight to the death. Don't give up..."
He hugs Marky and tells him to go find his mother. Alone, Johnny begins to pour fuel on the mobile home to burn it. he then, in a ritual, begins to call out a curse upon any person who is about to take his blood. He calls on every one of his ancestors to rise up from the forest with him as he begins to relentlessly bang on the drum from the giant.
