'Our Country's Good' - Character Context

Question 1

Governor Arthur Phillip

Answer 1

• founding father of the Australian nation
• humane and liberal ruler
• he is a representation of a liberal belief system that favours education and redemption over punishment
• he defers to the process of justice

Question 2

Major Ross

Answer 2

• vehemently opposed to the idea of putting on a play
• the convicts fear Ross’ sadistic violence
• mistake to play him as an absurd tyrant; Timberlake: “He was the most difficult character to make sympathetic because of the way he acted”
  => she brought out his despair and hatred of where he was “In the whole world there is no worse a country”

Question 3

Ralph Clark

Answer 3

• kept a journal between 1787-1792
• desperate desire for a promotion and overwhelming guilt for leaving behind his beloved Betsy Alicia (Picture of feminine saintliness => contrast to convict women)
• one descendant - his and Mary’s child
• he was initially immune to the floggings as he saw the convicts as less than human and viewed women as collectively “whores”, but after the audition scene, Ralph’s opinion begins to change
• intensely jealous of Wisehammer
• the process of Mary rehearsing in the play has made her become worth of his love

Question 4

Harry Brewer

Answer 4

• his obsessive guilt and fear of hangings fuels his alcoholism, which contributes ti his hallucinations
• Harry’s relationship with Duckling is an extension of his alcoholism - he desperately wants her to love him, to make him feel normal
• large and complex character => tricky for actors; ‘Play him as someone who is trying to be sane’

Question 5

John Wisehammer

Answer 5

• a convict did write a prologue and epilogue

- Ralph’s rival in love for Mary, but it is unrequited love

Question 6

Mary Brenham

Answer 6

• daughter of servants in a well-to-do household
• boyfriend cajoled her into stealing the linen
• beginning of play, she is probably in post-traumatic shock + doesn’t have much control over her life => shy and insecure
• is finding her niche as an actress

Question 7

Dabby Bryant

Answer 7

• did in fact escape from Sydney on a boat with her husband
• lived to be an old woman in her beloved Cornwall
• she is a pragmatic, mouthy and insightful woman

Question 8

Liz Morden

Answer 8

• has one of the biggest journeys in OCG
• when Mary, Sideway and Duckling come to see her in prison it literally saves her life
• Phillip is determined that she defend herself to prove that the most difficult woman in the colony has learnt something through the play
• the key to playing Liz is her status (it is high because she is perceived as being so dangerous)