Our Country's Good: Based on the Novel the "Playmaker" by Thomas Kenneally (Student Editions)

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James " Ketch" Freeman: Transported to Australia for the killing of a sailor who broke a strike, Freeman is made the hangman of the colony when he is told 'hang or be hanged'. Despised by many of the other convicts for being a hangman, in particular Liz Morden, Ketch struggles to be accepted. He exchanges words with Ralph in Act One, Scene Nine. He explains how he came to be in his situation, blaming a mix of reasons including leaving Ireland where his guardian angel was. You see also in this scene his desperation to be an actor in the play. In the play, Captain Tench opposes Phillip. He doesn't believe that the convicts could ever improve and become valuable members of society. He hates them all because they are criminals. Judge Collins The key extracts chosen must be continuous and individually last at least 10 minutes in duration if the full extract were to be performed. Captain Watkin Tench, RM: Tench is an officer who dislikes all of the convicts for the simple fact that they are convicts. Whenever he has a comment to make about them, it is always a sarcastic aside. He does not believe in the redemption of the convicts, nor in the fact that they can be converted from their criminal ways. He regards all of the convicts as barbarians, stating that hanging is "their favourite form of entertainment" (Act One, Scene Three).

In the second scene, the author writes about the aboriginals who at first were under the impression that they will continue to live their lives as they want. This was not true and their lives were forever changed by the first British ship to land on the shores of Australia. Through this, the author wants to point out that the native community, those who are often ignored by the history books when they discuss Australia, were affected tremendously by the arrival of the British convicts on their lands. The succession of short scenes in varied locales has become a familiar way for contemporary dramatists to construct a complex plot. In production, My Country’s Good would be performed on a basic set, most likely on several levels, so that one scene could flow into another without interruption. Lighting and simple properties along with period costumes would establish the necessary atmosphere. An Aboriginal Australian: He describes the British settler's efforts with curiosity and later with fear. Depending on how prominent his appearances are made in a given staging, the subject of colonisation may become more and more central to the play.

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One night, Ralph finds Mary rehearsing alone on the beach. When he joins her and recites the lines of her character’s lover, they begin to feel a connection, and their fake embrace turns into something real. As they take off their clothes, Ralph admits he’s never seen a naked woman before—not even his wife. The play was performed at the Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre, directed by Caroline Hall and featuring Louise Gold as Lieutenant Will Dawes and Liz Morden. [1] It was also presented at the Liverpool Playhouse in 2007. Among the cast members was Charlie Brooks. The actors also provided a workshop for real life convicts in Walton Prison. [ citation needed] Awards and nominations [ edit ] 1988 Laurence Olivier Award During this period, Dabby and Mary rehearse their lines. When Liz tries to join them, Dabby insults her. Nonetheless, Mary helps them both practice, since she’s the only one who can read. Before long, Dabby and Liz end up fighting, at which point Ketch Freeman—the colony’s hangman—appears and asks why they’re “at each other’s throats.” “I wouldn’t talk of throats if I was you, Mr Hangman Ketch Freeman,” Liz says, and the three women berate him. That night, Freeman visits Ralph’s tent and tells him his life story, explaining that he always gets in trouble simply for being part of a group that collectively breaks the law. In fact, he was with Handy Baker when he and several others stole food, but Ketch avoided execution by agreeing to become the colony’s hangman. However, he can’t stand that everyone hates him, so he pleads with Ralph to be included in the play, hoping this will help him redeem himself. It is 1787, and a fleet of British convict ships is bound for Australia, where Captain Arthur Phillip will become Governor of one of the region’s first penal colonies. Not long after the military officers and their prisoners arrive, Phillip discusses the merits of punishment with Judge Collins, Captain Tench, and Midshipman Harry Brewer. Phillip is averse to cruel displays of discipline, but Tench believes in the value of capital punishment. As this discussion continues, the men turn their attention to the hanging of several convicts, which is set to take place soon. Phillip expresses his reservations regarding the spectacle, but Judge Collins suggests that public hangings instill a “mortar of fear” in the convicts that is necessary for a well-functioning “civilisation.” Agreeing with this, Tench explains that the hangings are the convicts’ “favourite form of entertainment.” This appalls Phillip, who suggests that the convicts should be exposed to other forms of entertainment, and when Tench makes fun of him for this, Phillip upholds that “no one is born naturally cultured,” saying that even he had to learn to appreciate things like theater. All the same, he instructs Harry to move forward with the hanging. Dabby Bryant is a convict who takes part in the play and enjoys it, although, on several occasions, she shares that she finds it stupid and irrelevant to their current situation. Dabby talks about returning to her home, Devon, and she plans to escape after the performance. Aboriginal Australian

Timberlake Wertenbaker is a New York born, British writer raised in France. A daughter or a writer and a journalist, Wertenbaker’s interest in writing and language is no surprise and having started her career lecturing in Greek and French, Wertenbaker moved to London in the early 1980s where he career in theatre developed. In 1984 she became the resident writer for the Royal Court and this relationship culminated in the development of Our Country’s Good, an adaption the Thomas Keneally novel The Playmaker.Full details of our requirements for recordings are provided at aqa.org.uk/drama Supervising students Dawes is the colony’s astronomer and he couldn’t care less about the convicts or the officers. He agrees to the play going ahead as long as he doesn’t have to watch it. Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark