Our Country’s Good, written by Timberlake Wertenbaker, based on the novel, The Playmaker, by Thomas Kenneally is about the beginnings of colonization and the foundation of Australia, set in Sydney in 1789.
The
three hour event currently being performed at Theatreworks is clearly
the culmination of thousands of hours of work - the creation of the
novel, the adaptation of the play, the first performance at the Royal
Court Theatre in London and then, of course, the journey Glenda
Linscott (the director) has taken since hearing Thomas Kenneally
passionately discuss the themes of the play on radio in 2006 right
through to auditioning, casting, directing, designing and rehearsing
ten talented young actors in the current Melbourne production.
In commenting on or critiquing the piece as a whole, where does one start?
Without
having read the novel or taken the time to research the time period, I
feel underprepared to review such a piece, but for what my thoughts are
worth, generally, I confess I teetered between being confused and
bored, to being curious, interested, involved and intrigued how the
story would evolve. There were moments I tuned out, but moments I was
gripped by the action on stage, the emotion being portrayed and story
unfolding. There were moments I ‘saw the acting’, followed by moments
so credible I forgot I was in a theatre.
The
ensemble cast of Mick Lo Monaco, Michael Wahr, Grant Foulkes, Terry
Yeboah, Brett Christian, Marissa Bennett, Celeste Markwell, Katya
Shevtsov, Brendan McCallum and Susan Miller were committed and
technically strong, but there were times when the connection with the
audience was lost. Maybe this was to do with the play’s content, with
my personal connection to the content or with the length of the piece
and time required to concentrate on the action, but it distracted me
from the effort and skill evident throughout.
The
director found relevance in the play to two modern issues recently in
the media – the Beaconsfield mining disaster and the ‘unimaginable
child sexual abuse and domestic violence, which is apparently endemic
amongst our remote Aboriginal brothers and sisters’. I wanted to see a
similar relevance and be moved, but for the bulk of the piece, I
couldn’t see past a play set in 1789 being performed by actors on a
stage about a time gone by.
The
director, cast and crew should be admired for their skill, effort and
interest to bring Australian audiences such a slice of Australian
historic life, but it felt like a history lesson which might struggle
to attract a class of interested students.
The Preferred Play Company presents Our Country’s Good
by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Short+Sweet Sydney 09: Week One
All-in-all, I must confess a creeping notion Short 'n' Sweet
might be riding its own wave a little too ambitiously. Is there a whiff
of veritable corporatisation about, in its quest... Read more
Our Country’s Good, written by Timberlake Wertenbaker, based on the novel, The Playmaker, by Thomas Kenneally is about the beginnings of colonization and the foundation of Australia, set in Sydney in 1789.
