Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.A play, says Captain Arthur Phillip at one point in Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good, is “the diagram in the sand that may remind”. That’s true in so many ways of this modern classic about the transformative nature of art. Written in 1988, it has become an educational set text for its rich mix of historical detail and metaphorical reach. Based on true events, it tells of the first British penal colony in south Australia and the struggle of Phillip, the enlightened governor, to introduce the convicts to theatre. As he and Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark (also a real figure) attempt to stage Farquhar’s The Recruiting Officer, they battle with hostility from more authoritarian members of the military and with infighting and traumas among the convicts themselves.This particular diagram works as a microcosm, touching on social issues such as imperialism, inequality, justice and the importance of rehabilitation. None of these have become any less salient today — indeed lines about overcrowded cells, deportation and the role of prison strike home in Rachel O’Riordan’s production. But the sand can also shift around a diagram, changing perspectives, so Wertenbaker, working with cultural consultant Ian Michael, has expanded the role of a character originally called “the Aborigine”. Named Killara in this new version, and played with quiet dignity by Naarah, she voices the experience of the First Nations people. Her monologues bring another layer to the play’s stark critique of imperialism, though she does remain on the periphery of the story.O’Riordan’s staging reinforces the drama’s current relevance in other ways. The cast wear modern clothes beneath their period military jackets while Gary McCann’s sun-bleached sandscape set is gradually littered with beer cans and plastic bags: visual reminders that the story we are watching contains the seeds of the world as it is shaped today. The tantalising potential for something better is built into Wertenbaker’s exploration of the colony as social exemplar. Layers of role-play emphasise how accident of birth can condemn people: some actors play an officer one moment and a prisoner the next. In O’Riordan’s staging this is often eloquently done. Finbar Lynch plays both the sadistic Major Ross and the convict Ketch, forced to implement Ross’s rough justice by hanging those condemned, lest he be hanged himself. There are lovely performances from Ruby Bentall as the shy Mary Brenham, finding her voice through drama, and Catrin Aaron as the tough Liz Morden, who finally reveals how life has treated her. At times the script feels diagrammatic in a less helpful way, however. Some discussions are engineered to make a point, and the staging doesn’t find a way round that: you can feel you’re watching a debate, rather than a conversation. But this is still a rich, resonant play driven by a humane and powerful message about the real value of art.★★★☆☆To October 5, lyric.co.uk
