1789. In the Australian penal colony at Botany Bay, Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark decides to put on a play, cast entirely of convicts, to celebrate the king's birthday. Despite the reluctance of his cast and the derision of his peers, rehearsals begin against a backdrop of food shortages and corporal punishment.

Gradually, the production begins to take shape, but its effect on both officers and convicts alike are not what Clark had planned. Before the curtain can go up, all must question not only their own existence, but the very nature of the society they live in.

production pics