Once on This Island is a play within a play. It opens in the present, on a Caribbean island, where a group of villagers have taken refuge from a growing storm. In order to comfort a scared child in their midst, they tell the legend of the orphan girl Ti Moune. The villagers play the different characters in their tale, weaving music, dance and storytelling into a magical fable of star-crossed lovers, temperamental island gods, and the power of love.