Our Country's Good
MAY 26 - JUNE 26, 2022*
Based on Thomas Keneally’s historical novel, “The Playmaker,” Our Country’s Good tells the true story of Australia’s first theatrical performance in 1789. The new penal colony in New South Wales, in what is now the city of Sydney, is populated by British Royal Navy, Marines, convicted petty thieves, prostitutes, and murderers. A Royal Marine lieutenant casts a motley group of convicts to present a Restoration comedy for the celebration of King Goerge III’s birthday. In order to defend his production to both the British officers and the criminals, he must convince them that “there is more to life than crime and punishment.” The play is produced against a backdrop of food shortages and barbaric prison punishments. Yet as the barrier between captors and captives breakdown, they start to discover each other both on stage and behind the scenes.
