The first penal colony in Australia forms the dramatic backdrop to Timberlake Wertenbaker’s modern classic about the redemptive quality of theatre, Our Country’s Good. 

Britain began transporting its poor and petty criminals to Botany Bay in 1788 under the governorship of Captain Arthur Phillip. Based on a real historical figure, it was he who decided to introduce the brutalized men and women to culture in the form of rehearsing and performing the most popular play of its day, Farquhar’s The Recruiting Officer.

We follow the lives of these wretched creatures, many of whom are also based on real convicts, as they bicker, fight, love and yearn for home in this new land. The action is observed by an Australian Aboriginal as he witnesses the arrival of the colonizers and the destruction of his people’s way of life.

Cast

An Australian Aboriginal  Nikhil Sharma

Convicts

John Arscott  Ian Nutt

Mary Brenham Rachael Twyford

Dabby Bryant  Anna Clark

Black Caesar  Nikhil Sharma

James ‘Ketch’ Freeman  Tom Hare-Duke

Meg Long  Moya Hughes

Liz Morden Joy Shorten 

Robert Sideway  Paul Clifford

Duckling Smith Ellen Publicover

John Wisehammer  Richard Readshaw

Crew

Director  Ruth Readshaw

Musical Director and Sound Design  Jeannie Harrison

Stage Manager  Gail Pittam

Lighting Design Will Penington