Expat theater group to perform play about prisoners sent to Australia


Fresh from a successful run of “Educating Rita,” Cut Glass Theater is going back to the 18th century ― with a modern twist.

Timberlake Wertenbaker’s 1988 play “Our Country’s Good” tells the story of a group of early convicts in an Australian penal colony who put on a play.

To deal with prison overcrowding, Britain sent about 160,000 prisoners to Australia to serve sentences of five to seven years, often for minor crimes.

The convicts in “Our Country’s Good” are allowed to put on a play ― despite the objections of some of the penal colony’s officers.

Director Jessica Adel, who also helped found the company, said in a press release that the play was about how art can heal.

“Theatre is a bonding process that can galvanize people and bring them together. It can also heal, educate and, we hope, entertain,” she said.

The third Cut Glass production, the play is still a period piece, but it is less traditional than the other two in its approach.

“We thought that what was quite interesting about ‘Our Country’s Good’ is that it has a period setting, but was written by a modern playwright,” said Stephanie Ann Foster, who acts in the play and is one of the company founders.

“Each performer takes on two roles, an officer and a convict, and for me the possibility for such a theatrical performance is fantastic.”

Adel is also keen to emphasize this aspect.

“You might have a high-ranking officer arguing with a lower one, then later the higher one is being treated badly by the lower-ranking officer,” she explained.

“In one scene, an officer is ordered to go and start the punishment for a convict which he is himself playing.”

“(Wertenbaker) wanted to deliberately blur the lines between the two characters to expose the human being underneath.”

The play also uses the actors as stage props ― at one point they get together to form the boat that takes them to Australia.

“We’re also using black blocks to form different pieces of the set,” said Foster. “It’s a style we hadn’t taken on before and so we’re very eager to explore it.”

This is quite a departure from the company’s other productions ― “The Importance of Being Earnest” and “Educating Rita.”

“‘Earnest’ is all about the difference between the country and the city and so it’s very important to establish those two locations,” says Foster.

“And ‘Rita’ is all about how those two characters change within that space, so you really have to be very realistic. So this is quite different.”

Foster said she was relishing the new challenge.

“I feel much more like an artist when I’m doing this because I’m using my own body to mold things, not only the character but set pieces. That scene (with the boat) is so very immediate,” she said.

Foster plays Mary, one of the few characters who is not double-cast.

“But she sort of plays two characters because she changes so much,” Foster said. “She is painfully shy at the start of the play but by the end, because of putting on a play, because of theater, she has really found her voice.”

She added that play within a play format had given the cast a lot of enjoyment.

“I’m appreciating a lot of the theater humor that a lot of actors can relate to. There’s the ham actor who wants all the lines and the person who can shout their lines but can’t act, all that theater humor has been really fun.”

“Our Country’s Good” will be performed on May 18-20 and 25-27 at Moon Night.

To get there, walk along the road leading directly away from the Hamilton Hotel and take the first left. Turn right at Viva Glam, and Moon Night is on the left.

Tickets are 15,000 won. For more information and ticket booking, email CutGlassTheatre@gmail.com.

By Paul Kerry (paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)