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By
Rosie Hetherington
This
is an excellent drama using a wall of sound to transport us to the
tropical paradise that was Australia in 1789. The short sharp scenes
are punctuated with anachronistic music and the effective lighting
brings out the darker side of life in this penal colony so far from
civilisation.
Timberlake
Wertenberger's award winning "Our Country's Good" concerns
the staging of the first play in this colony. This is a difficult
play for the small space in The Burton Taylor. However a little
goes a long way here with an inventive use of committee chairs turning
into an open boat. The director, James Corbet Burcher, has chosen
the musical interludes between each scene well.
With
nine members of the cast having to double and treble up it might
have been confusing. Yet each character is defined so distinctly
with a simple change from the convicts blue scrubs to the green
camouflage uniform of the Army officers that it quickly becomes
clear who's who.
Prison
as a punishment for inhuman beasts or a chance to reform human beings
fallen by the wayside is always topical. Civilisation with it's
harsh punishments for minor offences is represented by the sadistic
officers out to hang the leading lady. The convicts struggling to
survive in this wilderness are like mischievous children of nature.
As
the celibate "Ralph Clark" James Hamerton-Stove struggles
to remain faithful to his distant wife despite the temptations offered
by the female convicts. His attempts to direct them in "The
Recruiting Officer" are hilarious.
Matt
Trueman as "Governor Arthur Phillip" says "Try a
little kindness lieutenant." Something we would all do well
to try to remember.
The
views expressed in these comments are those of the contributor's
and not the 成人快手.
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