Graduating class performances
ShareOur Country's Good
By Timberlake Wertenbaker
Directed by Tadeusz Bradecki
of performances
from December 10 to December 14, 2013
Tuesday December 10: 8 pm
Wednesday December 11: 8 pm
Thursday December 12: 8 pm
Friday December 13: 8 pm
Saturday December 14: 3 pm
Ludger-Duvernay Theatre
1182, St. Laurent Blvd., Montreal
St. Laurent or Place d'Armes Metro
Ticket price: $9
Tickets are available at the Monument-National’s box office. They are put on sale one month before the premiere.
A $3,50 handling fee will be applied to tickets reserved by phone.
The 2014 Graduating Class of the National Theatre School of Canada is proud to present Our Country’s Good, by British playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker, directed by international director Tadeusz Bradecki. An impassionate, and sometimes funny, plea for the power of theatre, Wertenbaker’s play is based on the 1789 true story of a ragtag group of convicts, settlers of the first penal colony in New South Wales, staging Australia’s first-ever theatre production.
About the Play
Written in 1988, Our Country's Good is a play within a play set amidst the harshness of a society where justice is swift and cruel, and a hanging makes for good theatre. At the suggestion of Captain Arthur Phillip, the Governor-in-Chief of the new penal colony, the brutalised convicts rehearse for a performance of George Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer.
“I want to rule over responsible human beings, not tyrannize over a group of animals,” says Captain Phillip, who needs to believe in the educational and redemptive power of art. While the fledgling actors discuss the merits of theatre and their overseers take on the “nature versus nurture” debate, the exercise itself gives several convicts a desperate chance to reclaim some of their dignity.
“Our Country's Good is a rich play for emerging theatre artists,” explains English Section Artistic Director Alisa Palmer. “A contemporary classic by a remarkable playwright, the play suggests a refreshingly optimistic connection between the transformative power of art and the possibility of redemption. However unique in its historical period, it grapples with questions still present in a 21st-century debate about retribution and rehabilitation in our penal system. I am delighted to have director Tadeusz Bradecki at the helm of the production. His ability to bring theatrical intensity to large stage productions and his commitment to young artists is inspiring.”
About Tadeusz Bradecki, Director
Tadeusz Bradecki is a director, actor, playwright and teacher. A graduate of the State Theatre Academy in Krakow, Poland, where he is Associate Professor, Mr. Bradecki has directed over 80 productions worldwide. From 1990 to 1996, he was Artistic Director and General Director of the Stary Theatre in Krakow, and Artistic Director of the Slaski Theatre in Katowice, Poland, from 2007 to 2013. He was also Resident Director at both the Stary Theatre in Krakow and the National Theatre in Warsaw. In Canada, Tadeusz Bradecki frequently directs productions for the Shaw Festival, including the remount of his hit 2003 production of the Brecht/Weill musical Happy End. He also directed the more recent Shaw hit Guys and Dolls.
Mr. Bradecki has acted in many films, among others by K. Kieslowski, K. Zanussi, A. Wajda and S. Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. He was awarded the Leon Schiller Prize and the Golden Screen TV Award. In 1993, he was appointed Chevalier des Arts et Lettres in France.
Cast
2014 Graduating Actors
Erica Anderson
Wayne Burns
Andrew Chown
James Daly
Alexander De Jordy
Nikki Duval
Natasha Mumba
Stephen Tracey
Megn Walker
Benjamin Wheelwright
And Emma Laishram*
Design / Production Team
Léa Robertson
Set Design
Coral Coughlan
Costume Design
Brian Kenny
Sound Design
Amelia Scott
Lighting Designer
Corey MacVicar
Production Manager
Meredith Daley
Stage Manager
Nicholas Timmenga
Technical Director
* Second-year Acting student