The year is 1774, 18 years after the end of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel Treasure Island. Jim Hawkins, now a young man who has been to university and since has worked as Squire Trelawney’s estate manager, returned to Treasure Island two weeks ago. King George III granted Treasure Island to the squire as a proprietary colony, and the squire in turn has appointed Jim as governor. Jim has come with a dozen of the squire’s artisans to found the colony.

As lights rise, Jim is putting the finishing touches on the great hall of the governor’s house. The house is newly built and very rustic, and the great hall is not very great. In the great hall are a Union Jack, a portrait of King George III, a portrait of Squire Trelawney, and a map of Treasure Island.

Jim is awaiting the arrival of Lucretia Trelawney, the squire’s great niece, and the closest living relative to the life-long bachelor. Jim is surprised when the first guests are Long John Silver, the one-legged former pirate who led a buccaneer rebellion the last time Jim was on the island; Beulah Silver, John’s wife, a former slave born in New York; their 17-year-old daughter Kezziah Silver, born after John escaped at the end of the novel; and Captain Flint, John’s parrot.

Both Long John Silver and Lucretia Trelawney make it clear that they have come to help Jim set up the new colony. The two have competing visions for the island’s future. Lucretia’s plans center on sugar and the introduction of slavery. Silver’s plans emphasize that Treasure Island can be a shining city on a hill, a place of justice where all people are welcome.

The battle for Treasure Island’s future, and Jim’s soul, comes to a head in the final scene, a lavish dinner prepared by Long John and Beulah Silver. The feasting turns to feuding as Lucretia and Kezziah spar, first with words and then cutlasses. Jim attempts to stop the ensuing duel, and in the process, is mortally wounded as the play ends.