Two convicts are incarcerated in the prison of an island. Winston, a boor, has been sentenced to life imprisonment while the other man John, faces ten years of penal servitude.
Days crawl by during their jail term, they are made to dig sand interminably n the beach, which is only one of the trying disciplinary orders they have to abide by. However, the quotidian toil does not rob the of their unremitting will to live.
Sharing the same cell, they rely on their vicarious imagination to dramatize a small slice of life every single day. Despite the harshness of camp time, they manage to create a period for personal gratification daily, when laughter and dance need not be restrained. Fired with a common enthusiasm for acting, they even decide to put up a small extract of the ancient Greek tragedy Antigone to an audience of prisoners and wardens.
As rehearsals approach the end, John is awarded an early release. His prison term has been mitigated to allow
him to leave in three months.
Winston is thus forced to come to terms with the fact that he will have to spend his remaining years in jail till his death. Rationality is shattered; the concomitant friendship and trust built up over the years of long-term detention are also put to test. Nevertheless, the play must still be staged. And as Winston the boor fleshes out his part as Antigone, he causes the unexpected by letting out resounding cries, indecipherable utterances that etch vividly on everyone's mind
