Our Country’s Good

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Methuen Drama | £3.00 | RRP £6.99

“We are talking about criminals, often hardened criminals. They have a habit of vice and crime. Many criminals seem to have been born that way. It is in their nature.”

Australia, 1789. A boat full of murderers, thieves and marine officers arrive on a distant shore. There, an ambitious young lieutenant, Ralph Clark, is set the task of directing a cast of convicts in the Restoration comedy ‘The Recruiting Officer’ to celebrate the King’s birthday.

But with a dispirited cast, just two copies of the script, growing suspicion from his fellow officers, his leading lady facing the gallows, and his uncontrollable passion for one of the convict players, Ralph’s – and Australia’s – first theatre production is in trouble from the start.

A true story of the first convict colony, Our Country’s Good is an extraordinary play about the value of the theatre and the redemptive power of art. It had it’s world premiere at the Royal Court Theatre in 1988 and transferred to the West End and Broadway, winning the Olivier Award for Play of the Year and the New York Drama Circle Award for Best Foreign Play.

WINNER Olivier Award for Play of the Year and New York Critics Circle for Best Foreign Play

(NB. Cover may vary due to printing editions)