Loyola Marymount University presents the Timberlake Wertenbaker play, “Our Country’s Good,” which follows a group of prisoners in New South Wales as they join a play and embrace the theatre, from Oct. 26-28 and Nov. 1-4.
Directed by Marc Valera, performances start at 8 p.m. in the Barnelle Theatre. The play is presented by LMU’s College of Communication and Fine Arts.
Based on Wertenbaker’s dramatization of a real-life incident and Thomas Keneally’s novel, “The Playmaker,” “Our Country’s Good” tells the story of a Royal Marine lieutenant who directs a production with several of the criminals and misfits banished to the new British colony of Australia in 1788. It is the first play the country has produced, and gradually wins the skeptical fledgling actors over to the magic of the theatre.
“Our Country’s Good” wrestles with themes prominent in a colonial world: a penal system that allows the corrupt to abuse their power; a bombastic, yet sincere discussion of how society should be treating the imprisoned; the subjugation and abuse of women; forbidden love; and the effects of PTSD on soldiers.
Tickets cost $15 for general admission and $10 for seniors and LMU students and faculty and staff members. Tickets can be purchased here or by calling The Department of Theatre Arts at 310-338-7588.