The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureTheatre

Our Country’s Good at St James Theatre

Our Country’s Good at St James Theatre | Theatre review
24 February 2013
Liloie Cazorla
Avatar
Liloie Cazorla
24 February 2013

Famed playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker and genius director Max Stafford Clark are back, and it sure is for Our Country’s Good. The play premiered in 1988 at the Royal Court Theatre, when austerity was omnipresent in Britain.

Twenty five years on, economic cuts prevail more than ever (in theatre especially), and a revival of this modern classic is definitely well-timed.

The audience is invited to follow a group of convicts shipped from England to Australia by marines in 1789. Under the guidance of the young marine officer Ralph Clark, these supposed thieves, murderers and prostitutes will discover their ability to create another world: a world of theatre. Punishment, injustice, courage, friendship and love form the pattern of this fascinating theatrical mise en abyme.

The cast are mesmerizing and astonishing as they play both marines and convicts with the right doses of humour, anger and sorrow. Political but far from melodramatic, Our Country’s Good celebrates freedom and redemption on the stage, proving that “a play is a world in itself”.

From the costumes to the set, including sound effects and lights, Max Stafford-Clark brilliantly gathers all the details to guarantee success. On the evidence of the applause at the end of the show, he does well, despite budget restrictions.

The Arts Council have cut the funding to the theatre company (Out Of Joint) by 20% in the last year, so when asked about the relevance of the play to today’s society, Stafford-Clark answers: “Cameron and Osborne have done more damage to the arts in the last few years than Thatcher did in three terms of office”.

Fresh from a triumphant tour, the Olivier Award-winning play will enlighten St James Theatre’s stage for one more month. If there is one must-see West End play this season, it is this one.

★★★★★

Liloïe Cazorla

Our Country’s Good is at the St James Theatre until 23rd March 2013. For further information or to book visit the show’s website here. 

Related Itemsreview

More in Theatre

Swimming Home: An immersive online experience

★★★★★
Selina Begum
Read More

Live Lab at The Yard Theatre: An interview with associate director Cheryl Gallagher

Mersa Auda
Read More

We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online

★★★★★
Samuel Nicholls
Read More

We Ask These Questions of Everybody: An interview with Amble Skuse and Toria Banks

Mersa Auda
Read More

Public Domain at Southwark Playhouse

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

Unlimited Festival at the Southbank Centre: Centre stage for diversity

★★★★★
James Humphrey
Read More

RSC Next Generation: Young Bloods proves Shakespeare is timeless

Brooke Snowe
Read More

An interview with Ifrah Ismael: Tales from the Front Line and other stories

Selina Begum
Read More

A Livestream with David Bedella at Crazy Coqs Online

★★★★★
Regan Harle
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • We Ask These Questions of Everybody: An interview with Amble Skuse and Toria Banks
    Theatre
  • Start the year right with these eco-friendly vegan and vegetarian food deliveries
    Food & Drinks
  • Hello Cosmos – Dream Harder
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Assassins: Exclusive new clip
    Cinema
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Uncategorised
  • Schemers
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Away: An interview with animator Gints Zilbalodis
    Interviews
  • The Queen of Black Magic
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Uncategorised
  • Arlo Parks – Collapsed in Sunbeams
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • WandaVision: Marvel’s charming sitcom proves an astounding success
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Parallax Art Fair at Chelsea Town Hall | Exhibition review
Best picture Oscar winner Argo | Movie review