by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Based on Thomas Keneally's novel "The Playmaker"
16th to 18th November 2000
I commend your endeavour to oppose the baneful influence of vice with the harmonising arts of civilisation, Governor, but I suspect your edifice will collapse without the mortar of fear . . . .
In a penal colony in 1789, a young lieutenant directs rehearsals of the Restoration comedy, "The Recruiting Officer". But with a cast of dispirited convicts, opposition from sadistic officers and a leading lady who faces being hanged, Australia's first theatrical production is in trouble from the start. Winner of the Laurence Olivier Play of the Year Award in 1988, Our Country's Good explores the redemptive and transcendental power of theatre.
