Briefly losing her fear, the queen caresses the princess's cheek with her right hand, only for the child to bite into her stepmother's thumb and drink the blood.
After her husband's funeral and her own coronation, the queen has her huntsmen take the princess to the forest and cut out her heart, which continues to beat even days after being removed.
The queen ties her stepdaughter's heart with rowan berries and garlic bulbs before hanging it in her private chambers and having the iron bars removed from her windows.
To save the kingdom from her monstrous stepdaughter, the queen uses magic and her own blood to create three enchanted apples which she brings to the princess, who has been living in a cave with dwarfs.
Although the queen is displeased to see the dwarfs buying pieces of glass, she does not respond due to her stepdaughter's heart being silent, thus ensuring the safety of the kingdom.
The prince and the princess have the queen imprisoned throughout the autumn, turning the people against her by vilifying her with lies that would morph into the famous fairy tale of Snow White.
Come midwinter, the prince and the princess have their wedding, the queen is incinerated in a kiln, and the story is revealed to be her final thoughts as she begins to burn to death.
This was the second of two collaborations between Gaiman and Seeing Ear Theatre, following Murder Mysteries, and the two adaptations have been released together on CD under the title Two Plays for Voices.