Our Country's Good - Timberlake Wertenbaker

This play explores the relationships and morals between officers and convicts, who have been sent to start a civilisation in Australia!!! Set in the days when the only habitats of Australia were the aborigines. At several points in the play we hear the aborigines view of the officers and convicts. Their view changes drastically, from firstly believing that it's all a dream and somewhat admiring the new people, to the eventual hate because of the disease they have brought with them. Phillip, one of the officers, as an aim to "rule of responsible human beings, not tyrannise over a group of animals". He looks to fellow officer Ralph to help ...  Read the complete review

Written in 1988 by Timberlake Wertenbaker, Our Countries Good is set in 18th Century Australia. It tells the story of the first convict ship sent to arrive in Australia where a young Second Lieutenant, Ralph Clark decides to put on a performance of 'The Recruiting Officer', casting the convicts in order to give them something worthwile to do. The convicts on the island are a mixed bunch, some act like animals while others have been wrongly sent to the colony. Slowly the group bond, but days before the play one of the cast is sentenced to death by hanging. While the play may not seem have the most thrilling storyline ever, it is full of sexual ...  Read the complete review

By pure misfortune alone, I was forced to study this book for my A-level English Lit coursework and when I did I was sorely dissapointed with this book. Although it is meant to portray the life of convicts being shipped to Australia, back in the old days, when one is reading this book one may get the impression that this book is simply a sex story with little plot. Lets see now, the book starts off with officers talking about Englsih c**t and about two lines later a convict is asking a random woman convict to have sex with him. As things go on, the book makes several inplications to an officer masturpating over a picture of his wife and also tells us all these ...  Read the complete review

Reading through other opinions on the net about this play I got mixed opinions about it but having read it for my theatre studies a level there is one word I can use to describe it. That word is Brilliant. Although the story line may seem basic... that it is a play about a group of exiled prisoners who put on a play it is more than that. Scratch bellow the surface and you see it has subtexts of -the redemptive power of the theatre -friendships -loyalty --betrayal and jealousy And that’s just to name a few. I personally thought that this play was going to be boring but it was anything but. The blossoming relationship between both Mary and ...  Read the complete review

This frank and hard hitting play is one of the most well written Drama's I personally have ever read. A British ship bound for Australia is full of convicts who run amuck on the ship and with the very harsh punishments, (usually hanging) for petty crimes the convicts need some stimulation in order to survive in this new land. The officers in charge decide that it would be a good idea to put on a play using some of the convicts as the cast to perform for the rest of the criminals. As time passes and rehearsals become more intense for the convicts in the cast, various drama happens between the convicts and the officers alike. Some of the more ...  Read the complete review