Post by marion on Sept 19, 2024 9:42:22 GMT
I had never heard of this play by Timberlake Wertenbaker, of whom I have also never heard, but apparently it is now on the school curriculum. This could explain the vast number of school parties attending yesterday’s sold out matinée.
I was in two minds about this but the good thing about the Lyric is you can sometimes pick up a cheap ticket as they routinely offer them from the get-go, and I managed to get a £15 seat. So I didn’t really care if it wasn’t that great!
This is a story of a bunch of convicts being transported to Australia and their guards who are military officers. After landing in Australia matters like discipline and willingness to cooperate deteriorate they need to get the colony going in the right direction again. So the debate is should this be achieved by introducing strict discipline, flogging and hangings, or…..COMMUNITY THEATRE! The latter wins and the convicts begin rehearsing The Recruiting Officer by Farquhar. Apparently there is some historical truth to this being the first play staged in Australia. But what follows is more a discussion of life, power, class, empire, injustice, the human condition, the role of the arts, rather than a simple play within a play. Indeed I expected a digest of the actual play in the second act but it didn’t happen.
This was a very thought provoking play. The cast of ten play multiple roles. The ones I knew are Ruby Bentall, Nicola Stephenson and Finbar Lynch. The actors were excellent and I found the whole thing very involving. At times it is amusing but without belly laughs, so the theatre was quite quiet until the almost deafening applause at the end. I really enjoyed it. There is also a First Nations narrator, telling of the impact of the colony on her land and people, played by a lady called Naarah who I believe is quite well known. Anyhoo, I liked her bits and could have listened to more of her story, but at 2hrs 45min it was already quite a long session.
I was in two minds about this but the good thing about the Lyric is you can sometimes pick up a cheap ticket as they routinely offer them from the get-go, and I managed to get a £15 seat. So I didn’t really care if it wasn’t that great!
This is a story of a bunch of convicts being transported to Australia and their guards who are military officers. After landing in Australia matters like discipline and willingness to cooperate deteriorate they need to get the colony going in the right direction again. So the debate is should this be achieved by introducing strict discipline, flogging and hangings, or…..COMMUNITY THEATRE! The latter wins and the convicts begin rehearsing The Recruiting Officer by Farquhar. Apparently there is some historical truth to this being the first play staged in Australia. But what follows is more a discussion of life, power, class, empire, injustice, the human condition, the role of the arts, rather than a simple play within a play. Indeed I expected a digest of the actual play in the second act but it didn’t happen.
This was a very thought provoking play. The cast of ten play multiple roles. The ones I knew are Ruby Bentall, Nicola Stephenson and Finbar Lynch. The actors were excellent and I found the whole thing very involving. At times it is amusing but without belly laughs, so the theatre was quite quiet until the almost deafening applause at the end. I really enjoyed it. There is also a First Nations narrator, telling of the impact of the colony on her land and people, played by a lady called Naarah who I believe is quite well known. Anyhoo, I liked her bits and could have listened to more of her story, but at 2hrs 45min it was already quite a long session.