When the first ships arrived in Australia in the late 1780s, they were not carrying tourists on an ocean liner. Oh, no. They were carrying felons and murderers and prostitutes, sent to newly established penal colonies Down Under. When an officer discovers that the inmates regard the hangings of prisoners as entertainment, he is inspired to produce Australia’s first theatrical performances. Follow the production process in Timberlake Wertenbaker’s acclaimed Our Country’s Good, which is being produced by the SUNY Brockport Department of Theatre and Music Studies. The play opens on Friday, December 3, at 7:30 p.m., in the Tower Fine Arts Center Mainstage Theatre, 180 Holley Street, Brockport.
The production will be directed by Jenna Cole, a directing fellow from Geva Theatre Center, continuing an association she has had with Rochester’s professional regional theatre for several years. She feels that Our Country’s Good is, in and of itself, a very theatricalized version of events that concern making theatre. Her responsibility “is to honor the playwright’s intent and then find the best way to tell that story, which includes keeping in mind how to have the audience stay open to that story.” Part of the theatricality that playwright Wertenbaker indicated in her script is the doubling (or tripling) of actors in various roles, sometimes playing different genders and – more often than not – playing a convict in one scene and a naval officer in another. The way Cole sees it, this “provides a wonderful challenge for the actors as they build their characters with vocal and physical choices.”
With a cast that includes convicts as well as more upper-class British gentry, those vocal choices include each actor finding the appropriate accent for each of their roles. According to Cole, there is a “team of dialect coaches… for each of the four dialects used in the play: Standard British, Irish, Cockney, and Scottish. Associate Professor Ruth Childs has guided the team, along with myself, student Jojo Adams, and London-born exchange student Amy Cregor. The actors have been aided by dialect audio recordings and online video recordings such as The Crown to use for research.”
Cole breaks it down to basics when asked what she would like audiences to take away from the production: “Life is short. Embrace friendship. Have hope. Art mirrors life. Art changes us all. And then, ask yourself the question: What do you believe?”
Performances of Our Country’s Good will take place on December 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11, at 7:30 p.m. There is also a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, December 5, which will be ASL interpreted. Tickets are $17/general, $12/seniors, alumni, faculty and staff, and $9/students. They are available at fineartstix.brockport.edu, by phone at 395-2787, or at the Tower box office. SUNY Brockport’s up-to-date COVID-19 prevention guidelines can be found at the ticketing website, the Fine Arts Series Facebook page, and at brockport.edu/coronavirus. Compliance with campus protocols is required in order to attend any of performances or events.
More information about the Fine Arts Series at SUNY Brockport can be found at www.brockport.edu/academics/fine_arts or on Facebook.
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