Lyric Hammersmith’s newest main stage production, Our Country’s Good, follows a group of 18th century British convicts transported to Australia as punishment for their crimes.
Brought as prisoners to still-under-construction Sydney they face years of hard labour building the colony, knowing that they won’t be returning home even once their sentence is served.
The convicts are miserable and the army often drunk. But their daily routines take an unexpected twist when Captain Arthur Phillip (Harry Kershaw) decides that the prisoners would benefit from putting on a play.
Several of his officers don’t share his view and these tensions grow with the occasional mention that rations are low and the supply ships late.
Despite this, the dark humour of the comedy shines through – Ketch Freeman (Finbar Lynch) convict and hangman earns the affection of the audience with his commitment to giving his fellow prisons a quick, painless death.
10,000 miles from home
Set designer Gary McCann and lighting designer Paul Keogan transport the audience and cast more than 10,000 miles from London to Sydney with the sparse orange set.
Looking like dark, dry earth and covered in leafless trees, the hilly set is lit with bright spotlights that perfectly hint at the heat of the Australian sun.
Over the course of the play, it is slowly filled with rubbish by the British Army who resent their new home and the task they’ve been given.
Modern twist
The famous play has been updated by its author Timberlake Wertenbaker.
In his original 1988 version we had the character The Aborigine. This character’s lines and name have been updated and become Killara.
Played by Naarah, a Gija actor from the Kimberley in Australia, Killara’s monologues add a useful context and a timeline to the British colonists’ actions and the damage their presence is causing.
Catch it while you can
Our Country’s Good is on at Lyric Hammersmith until Saturday 5 October. But be warned – including an interval it is 2 hour 45 minutes long!
Dates include an open caption performance on Thursday 19 September, an audio described performance on Saturday 28 September and a BSL performance on Monday 30 September.
Tickets are available from £15 via Lyric Hammersmith’s website.
