Our Country's Good

by Timberlake Wertenbaker based on the novel The Playmaker by Thomas Keneally

Our Country's Good had 4 performances about 10 years ago (between the 26th of November 2014 and the 29th of November 2014)

174th Production. Set in Botany Bay in 1789 soon after the First Fleet convict ships arrived there, Our Country’s Good tells the true story of the rehearsals for the first play to be performed in Australia. Surrounded by forbidding conditions Lieutenant Ralph Clark attempts, under the authority of the first Governor General, to bring culture to the penal colony through a production of Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer, with a motley bunch of villains, murderers and prostitutes.

Clark is attempting to direct the play with no experience, only two copies of the script, and a leading lady who may be about to be hanged. The colony is strict and harsh, run by inexperienced Marines and naval officers, many of whom are skeptical of, even violently opposed to, the idea of educating and enlightening the convicts.

The play explores the nature of criminality and justice, the relationship between convicts and their jailors, love, lust and the place of women and, above all, the power of theatre to make a difference to people’s lives. While it’s a strong dramatic piece, it ought to be very funny in places, particularly in the rehearsal scenes.

The play is written for 22 distinct parts (5F, 17M) but is most often performed with extensive doubling (trebling, or even quadrupling!), usually with all the women playing men. It needs a minimum cast of 10 (4F, 6M). Doubling the officers with the convicts brings not only exciting challenges for the cast to play more than one role, but intriguing dramatic tension as the lowborn prisoners interchange with their ‘educated’ masters. The convicts’ clothes are ragged and dirty, but with the simple addition of a bright red uniform coat and a wig the transformation to noble officer can be achieved in full view of the audience.

This is not a naturalistic play and the scenery will be representative, minimal and flexible, set against a big cyclorama, allowing the 22 scenes across 2 acts to flow freely. The alien environment was hot and uncultivated, full of strange new animals (kangaroos!) and birds, so evocative sound effects and dramatic lighting will help create the place and mood.

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Cast
Backstage

	An Aboriginal Australian - Maxfield Usher A small but critical role, the (male) aboriginal appears just four times in the play, addressing just one line to the audience each time. He represents all the natives and has a totally unique perspective - bewildered and uncomprehending of the new settlers on his land. Strong and athletic at the start he becomes weak, contracting small pox in the end. Almost any age - appears stripped to the waist.
	Captain Arthur Phillip RN (Governor-in-Chief of New South Wales) and John Wisehammer - Graham Collier Phillip is the real life founding father of the Australian nation. A humane and liberal ruler, very progressive for his time, he wanted to live in harmony with the aboriginal people and insists the convicts and officers had the same rations. He strongly but quietly encourages Ralph to produce the play and advocates the education and culture of the prisoners. His real life garden is now the site of the Sydney Opera House. One of the best-read and articulate convicts, Wisehammer loves words and their meanings. He’s a rival to Ralph for Mary’s affections, but he doesn’t really stand a chance against an officer. As a Jew he is also the subject of unwarranted bullying from Ross.
	Major Robbie Ross RM and John Arscott - Marc Anderson Ross is the senior Marine in the colony and as such the de facto Chief Constable. Vehemently opposes putting on the play. Sadistic – he bullies the convicts and treats some junior officers including Ralph only a little better. By today’s standards he behaves appallingly and holds unattractive views on the rehabilitation of prisoners, but he was a very real character and an important voice in the central debate. Would suit a Scottish accent! Arscott really appears in Act 2 only. In real life Arscott was a carpenter and built the set. Rather ignorant (he believes a piece of paper with ‘north’ written on it will work as a compass), he is nevertheless a good actor and a real advocate for the play.
	Captain David Collins RM (Advocate General) - Tony Frier Admired by Ralph as a reasonable, fair and intelligent man, the real Davey Collins had no experience of the law before his eight-year stint as Advocate General of the colony. Generally in favour of anything that supports the justice system, and wary of anything that might harm it.
	Captain Watkin Tench RM and Caesar - Ian Thomas An unsympathetic officer, contemptuous of the prisoners and dismisses their reasonable fears of the nine month sea voyage as ‘an artifice to awaken compassion’. He expresses fashionable views for the time such as: ‘the criminal tendency is innate’, and ‘if you want to teach them something, teach them to work, not to sit around laughing at the theatre’. Caesar is a native Madagascan, with a French African accent, this part traditionally doubles with the aboriginal Australian (and often Watkin Tench too). Caesar is determined to be in The Recruiting Officer, and does not let the fact there is no suitable part deter him. A colourful character, he almost ruins the first night by turning up drunk due to stage fright.
	Captain Jeremy Campbell RM and Midshipman Harry Brewer RN (Provost Marshal) - Paul Foster Campbell is Ross’s inarticulate Scottish sidekick, permanently angry, he spends much of his time sucking up to Ross. A comedy role with several scenes and lines (not one of which makes a proper sentence!) The oldest midshipman in the Royal Navy, Harry Brewer only joined up at 39, met Governor Phillip and remained a firm friend of his thereafter. A challenging role, Harry has a complex relationship with Duckling, his convict mistress who he ‘saved’ in London before the transportation. Responsible for dispensing justice and intensely jealous, Harry eventually starts having visions and talks to people he has had hanged. He dies in Duckling’s arms towards the end of the play.
	Second Lieutenant William Faddy RM - Tom Hudson Appears in Act one scene 6 only. Has very few lines. The same rank as Ralph and is suspicious that he is using the play to angle for promotion.
	Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark RM - Nick Lund The play’s central character, Ralph argues for and directs the play. An unlikely hero, oftentimes miserable, this homesick young marine is looking for a purpose in life, trying to contain his obsessions and his overwhelming guilt at leaving his beloved new wife Betsey Alicia in England. Goes on a significant personal journey, eventually finding love with Mary Brenham his convict mistress who in real life he kept in a hut at the bottom of his garden.
	Ketch Freeman - Mike Ainsworth James ‘Ketch’ Freeman is quickly forced to become the colony hangman when caught thieving – a role he despises, not least because it casts him as a figure of hate among the other convicts. He is keen to join the play as a way of getting involved with the women convicts who otherwise won’t go near him. Written as an Irish Catholic.
	Robert Sideway - Josh Coombes A tremendous aficionado of the theatre, this is a really fun part. Claiming to know all about acting and actors he tries Ralph’s patience several times. His belief that actors must use stock gestures for every word, results in some very amusing rehearsals! At the end of the play he vows to open a theatre company, which in real life he did!
	Mary Brenham - Jessica Haines-Henderson A central role, Mary begins the play so painfully shy and embarrassed she can hardly speak. By the end she is Ralph’s mistress and a leading lady showing real talent. Along the way, because she can read and write, she is pivotal in helping the other women with their lines. A ladies’ maid in real life, she was particularly badly affected by the journey and is still in shock owing to its dreadful conditions.
	Dabby Bryant and Lieutenant Will Dawes RM - Nancy Lund Something of a rabble rouser, Dabby is pragmatic, mouthy and insightful. She pimps Mary to Ralph and at the same time manages to secure a part for herself without even auditioning. She doesn’t take the play very seriously and constantly disrupts the early rehearsals asking for new or different roles. Throughout the play she is plotting to escape back to her beloved Devon (remarkably, in real life she achieved this). Dawes appears in Act one scene 6 only. Has few lines, and is peripheral in this play, but the real life Will Dawes was the subject of Kate Grenville’s novel The Lieutenant. A scientist and stargazer (his observatory was under the Opera House end of the Sydney Harbour bridge), he compiled the first dictionary of aboriginal languages. Uninterested in Ralph’s play – he won’t attend anyway as it will clash with a lunar eclipse.
	Duckling Smith and Lieutenant George Johnston RM - Amy Horn Harry Brewer knew Duckling in London and was partly responsible for commuting her sentence of hanging to transportation to the colonies. As a result she becomes his mistress. Slightly smaller part than the other women, but she has some key dramatic, emotional scenes with Harry – including one in a rowing boat, and another at his deathbed. Lieutenant George Johnston RM appears in Act one scene 6 only. Very few lines. He has a convict mistress and as a result is generally supportive of the women convicts and the play.
	Liz Morden and Reverend Johnson - Caroline Ross The only totally fictional character in the play, Liz is an amalgam of several real life prisoners. She is a strong, hard-bitten, even dangerous character who gets a leading role and eventually shows a talent for acting. Life has been hard for Liz and unfortunately for Ralph she is arrested for thieving during rehearsals and is due to hang before the performance. Has a very compelling, tough monologue that opens Act 2, made all the harder for being written in contemporary 18th century criminal slang. Rev. Johnson appears in Act one scene 6 only. Generally ambivalent about the play, his concern is mainly whether the play will propagate in the convicts immoral thoughts or behaviour.
	Meg Long (Shitty Meg) - Faith Powell A character role who appears just the once for a couple of very funny pages. A kind of rough ‘madam’, Shitty Meg misunderstands Ralph when she hears he wants several women (for his play) and offers him instead her own personal services and then the ministrations of several other convicts. The part can be doubled (by a woman or even a man!) or could be a delightful vignette for a fifth lady.