Our Country's Good is set in the rugged and inhabitable Australia of 1788. In order to establish the first British colony, a mix of female and male convicts, as well as military men land in Sydney Cove with barely enough food and resources to withstand the cruel nature of this new country.
Several of the convicts are very young (with their age ranging from 14 to 25) and have committed minor offences for which the punishment was 7 years of transportation with no guarantee of returning to England.
Living conditions are horrible for this unprepared First Fleet. The land is too hard to farm and the convicts undergo mistreatment by the jailer-soldiers. Some of the female convicts are subject to harassment and disobedient male convicts are wiped continuously.
In order to restore some moral and dignity within this penal colony, Marine 2nd Lieutenant Ralph Clark decides to stage a production of "The Recruiting Officer"with the convicts.
