The play begins with a gruesome image of a prisoner being beaten on the deck of a ship while a lieutenant stands aside and counts the blows without a trace of emotion. The convicts are en route to Australia, where they will serve various prison sentences. Still, until they reached their final destination, the convicts had to wage a constant battle to survive. This first act sets aside the prisoners as hopeless people, who are at the mercy of people on the ship representing the law. The latter often abuse their power, killing convicts on the ship and imposing brutal punishments for almost no reason.
In the second scene, the author writes about the aboriginals who at first were under the impression that they will continue to live their lives as they want. This was not true and their lives were forever changed by the first British ship to land on the shores of Australia. Through this, the author wants to point out that the native community, those who are often ignored by the history books when they discuss Australia, were affected tremendously by the arrival of the British convicts on their lands.
In the third scene, Sydney Cove, Governor Arthur Phillip, Judge David Collins, Captain Watkin Tench, and Midshipman Harry Brewer talk about the punishment the convicts are given. Some characters see the establishment of a new colony just to imprison people as pointless as well as the capital punishment by hanging. From their conversation, the reader finds that a person could be given the sentence of death by hanging for stealing food, describing thus the punishments as being extremely cruel and even unjust at times. Some of the men do not think that the convicts can be thought to be good and as such, they are seen as a lost cause. When the Governor tries to convince the rest of the men that the convicts need to be treated like humans and educated, he is laughed at, proving just how little hope the rest had for the convicts on the island.
Ralph decides to stage a play and get every prisoner involved. Many of the prisoners are shocked to be treated humanely and the women have a hard time believing that Ralph is not doing this just because he wants to sleep with them. This scene also introduces another problem in the camp, namely the abuse of the female prisoners. The women were expected to submit to the sexual whims of the officers in the camp and they had no other choice but the obey. Love was not something found in camp and thus many convicts described themselves as unable to feel, transmitting the idea that the camp robbed them of their humanity completely.
The play is seen as a form of reform and while many oppose it, Ralph decides to go forward with it. The play gives the convicts hope and many who wished they were dead begin to fight once more for their lives. At the end of the play, those who were cast to have a role express their hope for a better future, many revealing what they plan to do once they are released. This ending has the purpose of proving that even though many were against the play and considered it worthless, it had a great impact upon the inmates and rekindled in them the will to live and to become better people.
