Our Country's Good
By Timberlake Wertenberger
About the Show
By Timberlake Wertenberger. Directed by Patricia Melluish. Set in Australia in the late 1780s, convicts are offered humanity by participating in the production of a play, 'The Recruiting Officer'. The convicts are sent by ship to Australia by the British and over time become animalistic - or so they seem to some of the officers guarding them. Captain Arthur Phillip thinks otherwise though, and asks Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark to direct a play starring the convicts. Some of the other officers are opposed, and Clark faces an uphill task of convincing the prisoners to work together. To cause further difficulties, some of the prisoners are sentenced to trials and hangings during the course of rehearsals. Cast - Officers Captain Arthur Phillip: John Heather Major Ross: John Oakenfull Captain David Collins: Stephen Whalley Captain Watkin Tench: Tim Hinchcliffe Captain Jemmy Campbell: Ian-Paul Munday Reverend Johnson: Rob Chambers Lieutenant George Johnson: Viki Redgrave Lieutenant Will Dawes: Hayley Weston Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark: Stuart Scott Second Lieutenant William Faddy: Ruth Aylward Midshipman Brewer: Pieter Jan Swinge Cast - Convicts Ketch Freeman: Stephen Whalley Robert Sideway: Tim Hinchcliffe John Arscott: Ian-Paul Munday John Wisehammer: Rob Chambers Liz Morden: Viki Redgrave Duckling Smith: Hayley Weston Dabby Bryant: Ruth Aylward Black Caesar: Kevin Carvosso Mary Brenham: Jenny Jones Shitty Meg: Penny Vetterlein Aborigine: Kevin Carvosso
