BWW Reviews: OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD Is a Moving Testament to the Power of Theatre, at Bag&Baggage

In his director's notes for OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD, Scott Palmer writes, "The play tells us that plays are good for us, basically. In fact, almost every review of the play for the past 30 years has included something close to the phrase, 'a celebration of the redemptive power of theatre' in its comments." So, you can see why I feel a bit unoriginal in writing this next line: OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD is a powerful play about the power of theatre to help us achieve something greater than ourselves. It may be unoriginal, but it's also true.

OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD, by Timberlake Wertenbaker, is a 1988 play adapted from Thomas Keneally's novel The Playmaker. It tells the story of a group of British Royal Marines and the convicts they are tasked with guarding in a penal colony in Australia in the 1780s. Captain Phillip and Lieutenant Ralph Clark come up with the idea to have the prisoners stage a play, so they put on a production of a comedy called The Recruiting Officer.

This may sound like light fodder, but it is far from it. The play is about more than the "redemptive power of theatre." At its core, it's about what makes us human -- and one thing that makes us human is being treated as human by others. It's about believing in something bigger and more important than ourselves, even if that thing is a play. And it's about how those bigger things can connect us to other people and provide us with the strength we need to survive experiences that would otherwise be unbearable.

What makes this play even more powerful is that it is based on real people and real events.

The Bag&Baggage production is a masterpiece -- well staged, well acted, well directed. The scene in which Captain Phillip (played by Peter Schuyler) explains to Lieutenant Ralph Clark (Andrew Beck) the benefits of the convicts putting on a play is probably the finest argument for arts education I've ever heard. Clara-Liis Hillier is spectacular as Liz Morden, a prisoner who causes particular trouble for the Marines and who I would like to say more about but I don't want to give too much away. A deeper level of meaning is added by the fact that every actor, save one, plays both a Marine and a prisoner, which brings home the point that whether we are rich or poor, privileged or disadvantaged, at the most fundamental level we are all the same.

The play is by no means easy to watch. A trigger warning at the box office alerts the audience to adult and sexual content, and on the way in the ushers warned us about the rough "military" language. But the sexual content and crass language are nothing compared to the sheer brutality that seems to emerge any time one group of people is given control over another.

It also has some surprisingly funny bits (often thanks to Gary Strong), which provide sporadic, and much needed, relief from the more difficult parts, much like The Recruiting Officer provided the prisoners relief from the harsh reality of their lives. This was my first Bag&Baggage production, but someone I met in the lobby told me that a signature style of this theatre company is finding the humor in even the most difficult material without at all diminishing its impact.

OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD plays at the Venetian Theatre in Hillsboro through May 31. It's worth the drive. For tickets, visit www.bagnbaggage.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.