A profoundly humane piece of theatre, steeped in suffering yet charged with hope, Timberlake Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good celebrates the redemptive power of art. Based on a true story, The Playmaker by Thomas Keneally.
Australia, 1788. A story of hope, redemption and art.
Observed by a lone, mystified Aboriginal Australian, the first convict ship arrives in Botany Bay, 1788, crammed with England’s outcasts. Colony discipline in this vast and alien land is brutal. Three proposed public hangings incite an argument: how best to keep the criminals in line, the noose or a more civilised form of entertainment?
The ambitious Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark steps forward with a play. But as the mostly illiterate cast rehearses, and a sense of common purpose begins to take hold, the young officer’s own transformation is as marked and poignant as that of his prisoners.
Cerys Matthews makes her debut as a composer for the stage writing the music for Our Country's Good.
At the National's Olivier Theatre from 21 August until 17 October 2015, book Our Country's Good tickets today!
Illustration by Edel Rodriguez.
| For more information or to make a booking please contact Group Line on 020 7206 1174 or via email at [email protected] |