Our Country's Good

The play is based on historical fact: in January 1788 a fleet of 11 vessels sails into Botany Bay to found a colony of convicts, and the Governor encourages a junior officer to stage a play as a learning experience for the prisoners.  But this drama doesn’t fit neatly into the cosy play-within-a-play template familiar from works ranging from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to “A Bunch of Amateurs”.  This is a dark, atmospheric and challenging piece which explores the redemptive power of art and the capacity of theatre to act as a force for social change, in the context of a brutal microcosm of society far removed from the norms of everyday existence.  It was clear from the opening scene, when a convict is flogged over a capstan wheel, that this was going to be an uncomfortable evening’s viewing.

The narrative thread develops slowly, as the key players emerge and are progressively drawn together by the challenges of staging the chosen drama, “The Recruiting Officer”.  This steady development of character is particularly true of the garrisoned officers; the similarities in their uniforms make them easy to perceive as an amorphous group, but one by one they reveal their individual traits and personalities.

The action was complemented by a small band comprising guitar, accordion, recorder, tabor and didgeridoo, and they were able to reinforce a strong sense of place with their plaintive renditions of melodies derived from Australian traditions.  The bleakness of the play was reflected in the very spare set, while the costumes were a notable strength of the production: the military uniforms were often worn quite casually to indicate lax discipline, or physical exhaustion, or both, while the convicts’ costumes were frequently ripped and bloodstained, consistent with physical work and frequent floggings.

Presenting this play involved a large cast and significant technical input, and yet it still added up to considerably more than the sum of its parts.  It was a difficult, challenging watch at times as the cruelty, the inhumane conditions, and the prejudices were all rendered quite graphically.  And yet, despite the sadness, the corruption and the exploitation, there was something burning at the heart of the play.  Was it hope?  Some of officers’ reforming ideas were shown to work.  Some of the convicts were shown a different path.  Perhaps the arts in general, and theatre in particular, have redemptive powers after all.  And while antisemitism, xenophobia and misogyny remain deeply embedded in our society, this production served as a reminder that such social issues can and should be addressed.

As the staging of “The Recruiting Officer” approaches, the characters involved, both convicts and officers, are drawn together.  They’re not so different from each other after all, not least in their coarseness and casual cruelty.  And they are all invaders of a foreign land and regard the native dwellers as savages, a fact we were periodically reminded of through recorded interjections by a representative of the indigenous people, accompanied by projections of their art.  There was a lot to process here, and the audience was still doing so as it streamed out into the chill Banbury night.  Sat at my computer screen now, I still don’t think I’ve processed it all.

© NODA CIO.  All rights reserved.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.