1788, Sydney Cove, Australia – penal colony of the British Empire. A harsh world where convicts serve time for crimes ranging from petty theft to murder and where dispirited officers, cut off from home and on half rations, vent their frustrations on the prisoners.
It is here that Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark finds himself entrusted with an experiment in moral redemption. He is chosen by Governor Philip to direct a group of convicts in Farquhar’s Restoration comedy The Recruiting Officer. But with a motley cast of ragged, mistrustful and largely illiterate convicts, opposition from sadistic officers and a leading lady who faces being hanged, Australia’s first theatrical production is in trouble from the start.

Cast

Crew