Our Country's Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker

Available for 26 days

**** 4 Extra celebrates the 70th anniversary of London's Royal Court Theatre with a selection of its ground-breaking dramas Australia 1789: Lieutenant Ralph Clark attempts to stage the country’s first ever play. He’s set to direct a cast of convicts in George Farquhar's 'The Recruiting Officer', but one of them may be about to be hanged… Timberlake Wertenbaker's stage play is adapted from Thomas Keneally's novel, 'The Playmaker'. It met with high praise when it was first staged at The Royal Court theatre in London. The play argues eloquently for the redemptive power of theatre. Many of the arguments are still current today as we debate how best to rehabilitate prisoners. At the heart of the play is its language; Wertenbaker celebrates the beauty of language in the slang of the criminal classes and the poetry of the play but she also looks at how language is used as an instrument of power. Captain Arthur Philip ..... Nicholas Le Prevost Major Robbie Ross ..... Stuart McQuarrie Captain David Collins ..... Paul Moriarty Captain Watkin Tench ..... Adam Billington Captain Campbell ..... James Lailey 2nd Lieutenant Ralph Clark ..... Paul Higgins Reverend Johnson ..... Simon Bubb Midshipman Harry Brewer ..... Rikki Lawton Mary Brenham ..... Francine Chamberlain Robert Sideway ..... Adam James John Wisehammer ..... Elliot Levey Liz Morden ..... Kate Fleetwood Dabby Bryant ..... Alex Tregear John Arscott ...... Ralph Ineson Ketch Freeman ..... Jonathan Forbes Duckling Smith ..... Adjoa Andoh Director: Sally Avens First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2011.