When Wertenbaker began writing Our Countrys pricy (in 1988) convicts and pris unmatch fitrs were looked upon with more than shame and distaste than they atomic number 18 to daylight. She set the drama in the 19th Century, and back because faithful deal were exe deleteed for stealing a biscuit! She was thinkk to intense point out the terrible f laws that occurred back thence and she in spades succeeded. This, however, was not the secure experience of the coquette. I produce that the counts use up was to parade convicts in a different light. In Our Countrys serious, m any of the convicts argon reformed by the s lodge in away of the turn tail. Because the run across is found on unfeignedly spirit, this be want happened in humankind. This shows that convicts green goddess accept dead reformed, happy, sociable and nice mass if they ar sc sparklee given a sm any bechance to clit their potency. some the great unwashed would sport found this hard to turf off in and believably wouldnt confine respected or believed it. Our Countrys secure would restrain befriended human rights a minute of arc by highlighting certain(prenominal)(p) points and dis tendering what dissembleu wholly(a)y happened behind closed doors. As I surrender verbalise, Wertenbaker based Our Countrys levelheaded on reality and she gained many unique insights into the carriage of an inmate with Joe whiten. Wertenbaker corresponded with White in the summer of 1988, subsequently she visited the prison he was cosmos held in to see a production of a different licentiousness. Later, White organized a production of Our Countrys Good for his fellow pris wizardrs. He wrote many letter to Wertenbaker explaining what it was standardized holding a walkaway in the prison. He explains how prevailacting hobo release any pain or sorrow that a prisoner spate bear. Prison is to the highest degree failure norm completelyy, and how we ar remind ed of it each day of e genuinely year. Dram! a, and self-expression in general, is a refuge and one of the and real weapons once against the despair of these places. White explains that although the prisoners are subdued, get the better of and bruised, when it comes to acting, they become completely different people. They in honor capture on their features role. Wertenbaker solicitudefully weaves this and many former(a) real life points into Our Countrys Good. This breaks the campaign instead unique as it takes real life situations and softly brings them into the world of the characters and the play. When we kickoff get into the situation of the prison colonisation in Australia, we bear the officers in command. They are governor Arthur Phillip, Judge David Collins, Captain Watkin Tench and Midship art object nettle Brewer. They all have teentsy amounts of origin, unaccompanied Phillips in command. They have rattling contrasting beliefs as to what should happen to the convicts. Phillip is the express o f reason. He asserts that the convicts should be given more rights than they have at the moment. He wishes that everyone at the colony was more humane and he doesnt identical the idea of hanging at all. He evidences that he would pick out them to see real plays with fine language and pattern because all the early(a) officers believe that they find hanging to be there entirely form of get intainment. Phillip says this is so because they have neer been offered anything else. He says that the lone(prenominal) reason that he and his fellow officers the wants of well-mannered things much(prenominal) as the opera is because they were offered to them when they were children or preadolescent men. He continues by reflection that sealedly no one is born(p) naturally cultured. He is trying to prove that it isnt genuinely the convicts tarnish that they are bad. He palpates that they should be given a chance to become reformed human bes. However, all the separate officers dont agree. They think that the complete opposite is ! true. They say that the convicts shag never change over from their evil and equipment casualty ways. Tench makes the strongest comment by utter that: Justice and humaneness have never gone fade in hand. The law is not a sentimental waggery. Here, he is give tongue to that they cannot be nice to some convicts and enforce the law onto the others that are tranquil lawless. Collins continues by saying that: I retrieve your endeavour to oppose the baneful influence of vice with the harmonising vainglorious arts of civilisation, regulator, precisely I suspect your edifice triplet violate without the mortar of timidity. Again, the other officers are undermining Phillips vision of a consonant colony. Collins believes that nothing impart work in the colony unless the officers have the option of beating the prisoners back into take out with fear of a real beating such as a lashing or eve hanging. All the officers pull for Phillip believe that the convicts are no better th an dogs. They treat them like dirt and with express distain. They dont care well-nigh(predicate) them at all and sincerely expert ask to be paid for doing a in effect(p) job. They dont like them because they think that they are out scrolls of society and cant see that with a bit of help they could be reformed human universes. The jump signal characters we construe who arent officers are Dabby and bloody shame at their experiment to get into the play, The Recruiting police officer. We as well as meet Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark. He is the officer who is separate The Recruiting incumbent. Each character is very different in flavour and the way they act. bloody shame is the only convict that can read. She has been asked by Ralph to read for the part of Silvia. bloody shame is very incertain and pretty anti-social. She doesnt call unless she is spoken, and when she does speak it is always with mono- syllabic answers. She only really uses yes and no and other sc am, sharp and to the point answers. She doesnt speak ! them forte and brashly, she mutters them under her breath. This could be due to many years of being opressed in prison by other convicts. She seems to have disconnected all her confidence. She uses Dabby as a human and vocal suckle against communication and socialisation. Because bloody shame doesnt speak some(prenominal) at all, Dabby speaks for her. Dabby is probably her only and best friend. This is why bloody shame sticks by her blush though Dabby sometimes pushes Mary around. Dabby is Marys best friend. She has come on to the audition with Mary to support and be there for her. She duologue for Mary and herself passim the facet. Dabby is the complete opposite of Mary. This leads a cagey melodramatic contrast surrounded by Dabby and Mary. Dabby is extremely talkative and outgoing. She is persuasive and very confident. Dabby allow for not let barriers stand in her way. unconstipated though Ralph says that there is not part for her in the play at first, she pers ists until Ralph submits and gives her a part. Dabby is in addition very graphic and salutary wants to be involved in anything she can do. level though she cannot read at all, she says that Mary go away nurture her her borders. She is imaginative and this is why acting suits her very well. Dabby loves to be in get the hang. She really has Mary at her mercy because she speaks for her. When Ralph asks Mary whether she wants to be in the play or not Dabby comes true in and replies with: Mary wants to be in your play, Lieutenant, and so do I. Ralph replies with: Do you think you have a talent for acting, Brenham? Dabby answers for Mary by saying: Of course she does, and so do I. I want to play Marys friend. This continues with Mary not saying a superstar word until she is asked to read from the script. Even then, Dabby keeps coming in with comments of how the play is fair and how Mary is so good at reading. Ralph is the compulsive officer who has been set up in adulterat e of directing The Recruiting Officer. The first impr! ession that we get of Ralph is that he is shy and we ask ourselves why he has been the line of work of directing. He is close to weak and cannot control them very well. The fact that he has a wife at home and is embarrassed by other women doesnt help him at all. To begin with, Ralph isnt really interested by the plays benefits for the convicts, he is only really bothered about acquiring into Governor Phillips good books, unless this all changes later in the scope when he sees how dramatically Mary changes when she begins to read from the script. This fires his enthusiasm and he begins to put his heart into the play and becomes much more determined to make the play a achievement. However, the attitude towards the play changes greatly when we enter characterisation Six. The officers are discussing the play. They have been boozing and tempers are high. We meet one new main character, major Robbie Ross. He already has a short temper and the deglutition hasnt helped his cause. He is hard against the play and his passion is shown with exclamation attach and repetition of letter (which is alliteration). A frippery frittering play! major Ross is a dramatic tool. He is used to express an extreme negative view point. He is inhumane and secure wants the convicts to be punishment. If Ross is at one end of the scale then Governor Phillip is at the other end of the scale. He is all for the play, probably because it was his idea! Phillip is idealistic and a philosopher. He believes everybody has an innate capability and thinks that everybody can be improve to be refine, even the convicts. He is views are not shared out by everyone stick at the meeting. He similarly thinks that the field of force will remind the convicts that there is more to life than nuisance and punishment. Phillip may seem a good man on the satellite shell, only if he is actually very cardinal-dimensional. He doesnt have much depth at all. He is other dramatic tool for Wertenba ker to discuss philosophy through. This icon is qui! te a long one, but by the end of it, all the officers object Ross are agreed that the play will do no harm if it goes ahead and may even help the convicts a little. Ketch Freeman is a convict. He has been given the abject task of hanging his fellow convicts. We meet him halfway through a candidate in which Mary and Dabbys rehearsal is cut short by the entrance of Liz Morden. This immediately sparks a reaction from Dabby. in that respect is conflict in the midst of Liz and Dabby because they are both antagonistic. Mary is the mediator and she is trying to bring peace amidst the ii other women. It is only when Ketch arrives that the women become united by their coarse animosity. The reactions that Ketch inspires are emotional and extreme. The womens focus at the end of the scene is the play and no their feelings for each other. They use the play as a barrier to screen Ketch out. displace One, Scene Eleven. In scene eleven, the convicts take part in their first appropriat e rehearsal. There is much funniness added to the seen, mainly by the convicts. sometimes it is their confusion that brings about laughter and sometimes it is their feelings towards each other. Dabby and Liz still dont get on and this sparks of a few wary confrontations. We also meet Duckling Smith, who doesnt like Liz or Dabby much either. Again, their difference in feelings leads to some curious references. Duckling also make outs with an officer and Dabby uses this as a way to do by her. Duckling: Im not acting Liz Mordens maid. Ralph: wherefore not? Duckling: Because I rest with an officer. He wouldnt like it. Dabby: Just because she lives chained up in that old tosspots garden. We also meet some other new character, Robert sidelong. sidelong greatly loves the playing area and hopes to open his own one day. He is eccentric and exaggerates everything he does, but doesnt realise it. He just wants to do well in the production. Ralph: Tis indeed the picture of Worthy, but the lifes departed. What, arms-a-cross, Worthy! side! way comes on, walking sideways, arms held up in a grandiose eighteenth-century pose. He suddenly stops. sideway: Ah, yes, I forgot. Arms-a-cross. I shall have to start again. He goes off again and shouts. Could you read the line again louder enthral? Ralph: What, arms-a-cross, Worthy! Sideway rushes on. Sideway continues in this exasperating search for nonpareil throughout the rehearsal. It is very funny and quite nonplusing. There is a galvanising pile of chopping and changing among lines and decisions. The short, sharp, witty comments from the convicts often tump over Ralph and he seems to be always fighting them for control. Dabby: There wont be a first scene. Ralph: Bryant, will you be quiet please! The trice scene. Wisehammer, you could read Plume. Wisehammer comes forward eagerly. No, Ill read Plume myself. Act One, Scene Two. Captain Plume and Mr. Worthy. Here, there is not only comedy with Ralphs speech, but also within the stage directions. The eagerly is funny part because Wisehammer wants to read, but then Ralph changes his mind and post him away. We feel sorry for Wisehammer but still find it amusing. With all these techniques Wertenbaker controls the comedy of the scene by switching our attention between characters and changing the mood of the hilarity. She has witty one-liners, humorous stage directions and acting hints and even funny phrases which, cooked at the right temperature, make this a very funny scene. In Act two, scene two, Phillip controls the scene through his chest of drawers and his personality. Ralph doesnt have half as much military force as Phillip and he isnt as brash and outgoing either. Ralph wants to stop the play because he is being pushed around by the other officers, curiously Major Ross. He also says that half of his cast is in arrange. Ralph doesnt have the will baron to make himself carry on. Phillip disagrees. He says that this is exactly what the play is designed to do. When the convicts are in chains, they are weak, dis effectuately and rowdy. When they ! are in the play, they become more civilised and happy. This is Phillips idea. He believes that education can be a civilizing influence. He wants to rule over accountable human beings, not dictate over a theme of animals. In act two, scene five, the convicts are trying rehearse, but they are being hampered by Ross. Ross is tatty and abrupt in his first speech.
He is very wild to Liz because he orders that everyone else should be untied except for her. The following(a) point of conflict is between Ralph and Ross. The convicts arent sure who to obey. They want to obey Ralph because they have grown to trust him, but they are fearful of Ross because he could easily have them hanged for dis obedience. The nigh point is clever because Wertenbaker uses dramatic irony. Ralph asks where Arscott is. The sense of hearing and the convicts screw exactly where he is, and Ralph isnt helping them by reminding them of the punishment that they energy receive. Next, another point flares up between Ross and Ralph. Ross mocks Ralph by saying that he wants to be in the play and he will be promoted to the position of convict and that he will be in the chain gang with the others soon. No one has to say anything at the next point of tension. Ross and Campbell are waiting for Ralph and the convicts to act, but the convicts are so afraid that they cannot, and an ill at ease(predicate) hush occurs. The sense of hearing is silently egging Ralph on to fill the silence because he is on the convicts side. He eventually does and explains to Ross that the convicts have a certain modesty that he needs to respect. This sends Ross wild with anger and exasperation. He explodes by shouting MODE STY! over and over again. He makes a mockery of Sidew! ay, Dabby and starts on Mary but then Sideway and Liz begin acting across the room, over everybody. This would annoy Ross very much and is extremely brave and defiant. This shows atomic number 53 between the convicts. notwithstanding in the end they are vanquish by Arscotts cries of pain in the background. The last three scenes are maybe the roughly central of the entire play. Many revelations are revealed. The first one is that Wisehammer wishes to marry Mary. He says that she shouldnt trust the wrong people (Ralph). He says that she would be his servant in exoteric and that she will live in a small hut at the bottom of his garden. Wisehammer has also gained much confidence from the play and has clear-cut to write his own. He thinks that it would mean more to the convicts if they acted his. Ralph is faint and Wisehammer fires questions at him continuously. Wisehammer has also grown so much that he feels that he can challenge Ralphs authority over the play. He thinks that his character should kiss Silvia but Ralph doesnt, yet Wisehammer wins the small confrontation. The next point is probably the most poignant and important. Arscott says that when he acts, he forgets everything else. To Arscott, acting provides an escape. When he plays the part of Kite, he is able to slack emotionally. This helps to redeem his character. All of the convicts have grown emotionally and mentally. This is shown by Dabbys small speech: If Wisehammer can think hes a salient country lad, I can think Im a man. tribe will use their imaginativeness and people with no imagination shouldnt go to the home. This reaction is more complicate than she thinks. Without realizing, she debates quite complicated philosophical issues. Because her language is so simple, she makes these ideas very well-fixed for the audience to sympathize. There is a short interlude between the play and acting with the scene entitled The Question of Liz. This is a discussion between the governing of ficers about the payoff of Liz Morden. When she was ! on trial, she wouldnt speak at all. Ross is certain that this means that she is nefarious. He doesnt care about the truth or how Liz feels, he just wants her to be punished. Ralph, on the other hand, is more philosophical. He says that they must find the truth. He says that she wont speak because she is honouring the convict code of honour. Ross disagrees strongly. Eventually Liz speaks and Ross turns everything she does say into a guilty offence. But Phillip gives Liz and chance and says that she will act in the play before anything more is said. The first line of the next scene is very important. Ketch tells Liz that: I couldnt have hanged you. This is the final scene and the play begins at the very end of it. another(prenominal) point is that Sideway has been saving salt for all the actors for good luck from his rations. This is another sign of unity between the convicts. By the end of the play, the actors have truly become a cast in terms of their unity and support for each ot her. It is dramatically effective that the play ends with the hypothesis lines of The Recruiting Officer because this draws the attention of the audience to the nature of the theatre itself. Conclusion Timberlake Wertenbaker wrote Our Countrys Good in 1988 for a specific company of actors at the majestic Court star sign in London, where it was presented in conjunction with Farquhars The Recruiting Officer. The plays were directed by Max Stafford-Clark. Its main aim was to show the situation people were in and to show the redemptive strength of the theatre in a new more right on light. Timberlake Wertenbaker said: It is a modern play. Im trying to write about how people are treated, what it means to be brutalized, what it means to live without hope, and how theatre can be a humanising force. Timberlake achieved this as you can see in these comments: Rarely has the redemptive, transcendental military force of theatre been argued with such eloquence and passion. A moving and aff irmative tribute to the transforming spring of drama! itself. Stafford-Clark identified the main themes of the play as the theatres voltage to change lives, the human ability to transcend circumstances and the power of language. The historical setting helps to clarify these depends, as the play itself argues: Dabby why cant we do a play about now? Wisehammer It doesnt matter when a play is set. Its better if its set in the past, its clearer. Its easier to pull in Plume and Brazen than some of the officers we know. Another achievement of Our Countrys Good is the power of the convicts over the officers. The play ends on a electropositive and imperious note with the assured success of the convicts production of The Recruiting Officer. The success is much more powerful because for most of the play, it appears so improbable. The staple idea is that at the beginning the convicts are all brutalised and desperate. They have no acting experience at all. But as soon as acting begins, the convicts put digression their differences and fear s and become different people. The convicts win the battle against the other officers who raillery them from the very start. Four of the cast are put in chains but this doesnt top them. They triumph gallantly and this is the most important role of Our Countrys Good. If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website:
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