Our Country''s Good Based on the novel 'The Playmaker' by Thomas Keneally

Commentary
Chronology:
­ A timeline of Wertenbaker's life and works, set alongside key theatrical, social and political events of the period.
Contexts:
- The 1780s: Attitudes to Crime and Punishment; The First Fleet and the Penal Colony of New South Wales; Theatrical Styles and Conventions; The Recruiting Officer
- The 1980s: Attitudes to Crime and Punishment; Theatre Funding; The Royal Court, Max Stafford-Clark and the 'Joint Stock Method'; The Playmaker
- Timberlake Wertenbaker
Themes:
- Guilt and Innocence; Punishment, Rehabilitation and Redemption; The Value of Theatre; Language, Silence and Voice; Colonialism
Dramatic Devices:
- Language(s): Regional Dialects; Articulacy and Inarticulacy; The Aborigine
- Episodic Structure
- Theatrical Style: Multi-roling and Cross-casting; Brechtian Aesthetic
- Options for Design
Production History
- A Timeline
Critical Reception
- Critical response, recognition and influence
- The Play Today
Academic Debate:
­ A brief discussion of academic responses to the play
Further Study:
A bibliography of texts for further study
- A discussion of Comparative Literature (by Wertenbaker and others)
PLAY TEXT - OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD