
Timberlake Wertenbaker’s
OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD
21 – 23 November 2024
DIRECTOR Chrissie Garrett
Production Manager Jane Shanahan
Tickets are on sale now from
The Mill Arts Centre Box Office
This is a powerful multi-layered play about the novel The Playmaker – the story of those who performed the play The Recruiting Officer. It focusses on rehearsal of the play among convicts and officers in a Botany Bay penal colony in the 1780s. It is sad, tender and painful. But, it is a story of hope and redemption demonstrating people can change. Barriers and stereotypes can fall away, once people get to know each other. Chrissie’s passion for the particular historic period and knowledge of the actual settlement will make for an absorbing creative experience.
CAST
The cast was as follows.
Arthur Philip – Andy Parsons
Ralph Clark – Richard Morris
John Wisehammer – Philip Fine
Robbie Ross – Bruce Walton
Ketch – Martin Crook
David Collins – Jem Turner
Sideway – Ian Nutt
Tench – Stephen Rouse
Caesar – Suchit Kulkarni
Harry Brewer – Phil Wintle
John Arscott – Robert Hoare
Rev Johnson – Andrew Whiffin
William Faddy
– Arthur Stewart-Turner
Jemmy Campbell – Nik Lester
Liz Morden – Hilary Beaton
Mary Brenham – Emily England
Duckling – Hannah Ramsden
Dabby – Helen Williams
Meg Long – Janice Lake
The Aborigine – Glen Miles
Director: Chrissie Garrett
Production Manager: Jane Shanahan
Stage Manager: Amy Crook
Set Design: Richard Ashby
Set Construction: Richard Ashby, Nik Lester
Costumes: Jane Shanahan
Wigs and Prosthetics: Kim Nicholls
Make Up; Jenny Tustian
Props: Terry Andrews
Lighting: Clare Lester + Mill
Band: Jim Plester, John Wright, Colin Critch, Dave Lovick
Review by Andrew Walter – NODA Regional Representative
See photos via Flickr from the dress rehearsal with thanks to Mike Watling.

Our Country’s Good: From page to stage: (Open for more)
Captain Arthur Phillip

The real-life Captain Arthur Phillip had been called out of retirement to take on the position of Governor of the first fleet to Australia.
Captain Phillip wanted harmonious relations with the local indigenous peoples, in the belief that everyone in the colony was a British citizen and protected by the law as such, therefore the indigenous peoples had the same rights as everyone under Phillip’s command until cultural differences between the two groups led to conflict.
As the first Governor of New South Wales, a number of places in Australia are named after him, including Port Phillip, Phillip Island, Phillip Street in Sydney’s central business district, the suburb of Phillip in Canberra and the Governor Phillip Tower building in Sydney.
Robert Sideway

The real Robert Sideway was convicted of the crime of grand larceny for the theft of goods totalling 26 shillings and transported for 7 years. In 1792, he was offered a conditional pardon and in 1794 he was given a contract as a baker for the troops.
By 1796, Sideway had opened a 120 street theatre in Bell Row (now Bligh Street in Sydney). The theatre continued until 1800 when it was closed as a “corrupting influence” – until that time it had a successful repertoire, including Shakespeare.
Sideway also started a public house, and by 1805, he had a licence to serve wine and spirits. His wife, Mary Marshall, who had also arrived on the First Fleet, took over as publican after his death in 1809.
Captain Jemmy Campbell

Captain Jemmy Campbell was one of the more disgruntled officers, sending two letters home that were strongly critical of the governorship of Captain Arthur Phillip. He was critical of the settlement and doubted it could succeed.
He sent natural history specimens including a kangaroo skin and drawings by Captain John Hunter back to his patron, Lord Dulcie. Like most of the Marines, he returned to England on the Gorgon in December 1791.
John Arscott

John Arscott was sentenced to be transported for 7 years at Bodmin Assizes on 18th August 1783 for the crime of stealing two silver watches and 30 pounds of tobacco from the dwelling houses of Phillip Polkinghorn and George Thomas.
In the colony, Arscott was in demand for his carpentry skills. Though the character of Arscott in the play talks of finding ‘escape’ through theatre, the real Arscott never actually tried escaping. He was transported to Norfolk Island for a time, before being discharged on his return to Sydney, where he returned to carpentry.
He was married in 1792 to Catherine Prior (who had been sentenced for the same highway assault Mary Bryant was part of, and had born him a short-lived son in 1788).
They both planned to return to England via Calcutta in April 1793, but at a stop in the Torres Strait in July, he was part of a party sent ashore for supplies who were attacked by natives. He and two others survived and escaped in a small boat, sailing for Timor. Arscott and one companion arrived in Batavia in October 1794. Catherine had died the previous year in September 1793 of spotted fever. Arscott leaves no further historical records.
Ralph Clark

Ralph Clark volunteered to serve in the New South Wales Marine Corps and travelled to Sydney on the Friendship, a ship with largely female convicts. His duties in the colony included guarding convicts and serving on the Criminal court. He also hunted and fished, sending specimens back to England. He kept a vegetable garden on a small island in Port Jackson (the island now known as Clark Island). Most of this produce was quickly stolen and he eventually stopped attempting to keep a garden.
In March 1790 he was sent to serve in Norfolk Island with Major Ross. He was made quartermaster general and keeper of the stores, running the settlement at Charlotte Field, and, later in April 1791, the settlement of Queensbrough. During that time he had a daughter with Mary Branham, a female convict, who was born in July 1791 and named Alicia (his wife Betsy’s middle name). He returned to England in 1792, accompanied by Mary Branham. It does not seem that they remained together after his return to England. Clark was killed in action in June 1794.
Clark kept a series of diaries from March 1787-June 1792, and although never intended to be published, they provide some of the most personal information about the early convict era in Australia. The diaries are currently held by the State Library of New South Wales.
John Caesar

Convicted of stealing 240 shillings, John Caesar was resentenced in April 1789 and had his sentence increased to Transportation for life.
Upon arriving at the colony, he fled into the bush a fortnight later and began stealing food on the outskirts of the settlement. He became known as a bushranger – robbers and outlaws who resided in the Australian bush – stealing, committing arson, and worse.
After being caught and returned to the Botany Bay colony, Caesar was sent to work on Garden Island as a labourer. He was eventually allowed to work without chains, and escaped again on 22 December 1789 in a stolen canoe. After being injured, he handed himself back into camp on 31 January 1790 and was sent to Norfolk Island in March of the same year.
In 1793, he left his fellow convict, Anne Power, with whom he had a daughter, and returned to Port Jackson, before escaping once again in 1794, but soon returning home.
Caesar escaped for the final time in December 1795, leading a gang of absconders. A reward for his capture was posted on 29th January 1976, consisting of five gallons of spirits. On 15th February 1796, he was tracked down at Liberty Plains, and fatally wounded.
Robert Ross

Robert Ross volunteered for the newly formed New South Wales Marine Corps in 1786 and was designated its commander with the brevet rank of major. From the start of his time in New South Wales, Ross was in conflict with the governor Arthur Phillip and other officers.
Captain David Collins claimed an “inexpressible hatred” for him, and Ralph Clark described him at the time as “without exception the most disagreeable commanding officer I ever knew”.
He criticised Phillip for not building fortifications, and missed no opportunity to embarrass and hinder the governor. His actions made Phillip’s task of administering the fledgling colony more difficult.
Ross never adapted to life in the colony and had no faith in its future, stating that “in the whole world there is not a worse country than what we have yet seen of this. … it may with truth be said, here Nature is reversed.” He also claimed that “every person … who came out with a desire for remaining … are now most earnestly wishing to get away from it.”
Mary Bryant (Dabby)

The real-life Mary Bryant, known as Dabby, was convicted of robbing and assaulting a woman on a road in Plymouth and originally sentenced to hang with her two companions. Before their sentences were commuted to seven years transportation she conceived her first child in the Dunkirk Prison Hulk at Plymouth. and gave birth on the voyage to Sydney to Charlotte.
She married William Bryant on 10th February 1788, who had been on the prison hulk with her, and had another child with him in 1790.
When his transportation order expired in 1791 he made a plan to escape by boat – escaping with Mary, the children and seven other transportees on 28th March 1791. They kept close to the coast, arriving in Timor after a voyage of 69 days. They claimed to be shipwreck survivors, but were discovered and imprisoned by the Dutch governor, before being handed over to the British and sent back to Britain to stand trial. On the voyage back, William and both children died.
In 1793 Mary was pardoned and she returned to her family in Cornwall where she remained until her death in 1795. Mary Bryant’s story has been the subject of two TV series, a play starring Leo McKern called “Boswell for the Defence”, and a musical by Nick Enright and David King.
Second Lieutenant William Faddy

William Faddy was part of the crew sent to Norfolk Island in March 1790. Ralph Clark took his side in an altercation between Faddy and Lieutenant Robert Kellow which ended in a duel between the two men in June 1790.
He was part of the Marines returned to England on the Gorgon in December 1791. Faddy was promoted to Captain Lieutenant in July 1797 and served on the Vanguard from that year until the Battle of the Nile in 1798, dying in action on the first day of conflict.
John Wisehammer

John Wisehammer was convicted of the theft of snuff and transported for seven years on the vessel, the Friendship. Wisehammer was sentenced to receive 50 lashes for neglect of work in 1790 but fainted after 8 and was forgiven the rest.
He cohabited with Susannah Milledge, another convict. Both he and Milledge spent 1790-1796 on Norfolk Island. It is believed they may both have returned to England after the 7 years’ transportation was complete.
Captain Watkin Tench

Captain Tench came out of military retirement in 1786 when the Admiralty called for volunteers for a three-year tour forming the New South Wales Marine Corps, and sailed on the transport “Charlotte” in May 1787.
Tench wrote a book describing his experiences of the voyage and the early months of the colony, published in 1789 under the title, “Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay”. The book ran to multiple editions and was translated into French, Dutch, German and Swedish.
Tench sailed back with most of the marines in 1791 on the Gorgon with a draft for a second book, “Account of the Settlement of Port Jackson” – which was published in 1793, and his third book, “Letters written in France to a Friend in London”, was conceived and written during his six-month imprisonment by the French after the blockade of Brest.
Tench returned to service and retired multiple times upon returning back to England, spending his years escorting convoy ships and serving onshore as a commandant in the Plymouth division. He finally retired with the rank of Lieutenant General in 1827 and died in 1883.
Ketch (James Freeman)

The real James Freeman was convicted of highway robbery and the theft of 12 shillings. Originally sentenced to death, his sentence was eventually commuted to seven years transportation. On arrival in Sydney he was caught stealing flour and was sentenced to hang on 1st March 1788.
After a botched hanging two days earlier however, Freeman was offered a pardon on the condition of him becoming the colony’s public executioner. He was 20 years old. He would eventually execute 15 people, including 6 marines and one woman.
At the end of his sentence, he met and married Mary Edwards, a prisoner from the Third Fleet. They would have two daughters, Mary and Bethia.
The relationship wouldn’t last, and his first daughter would die in 1801. He was not given a land grant after his sentence was completed. He kept working as a labourer, and is recorded in the 1828 census as James Thurman, a pauper, living with a farmer in Richmond. He was buried in 1830 in an unmarked grave. His surviving daughter gave him ten grandchildren.
Harry Brewer

Harry Brewer joined the Navy as a volunteer and met Arthur Phillip while both were serving on HMS Alexander. He came out to Botany Bay with Phillip as his clerk. Phillip appointed him as provost-marshal (in charge of Military police), and he acted in the role pending British government approval, which took 4 years.
He initially served as building Superintendant, but in later years he directed the convict constabulary and acted as impounding officer.
Mary Branham

The real life Mary Branham had been sentenced at the Old Bailey for stealing two petticoats, one pair of stays, four yards and a half of cloth, one waistcoat, one cap, one pair of cotton stockings, one pair of nankeen breeches and one cloth coat, to a total value of 39 shillings.
Mary was 14 years old when she was sentenced to 7 years’ transportation. During her transport on the Lady Penhryn she became pregnant, and her first child, William, was baptised on 20 July 1788. She and her son were sent to Norfolk Island in 1790.
She had a daughter, Alicia, with Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark while they were both at Norfolk Island. She and her children returned to England on the Gorgon in December 1791. Nothing is known of her life after her return to England.
Reverend Richard Johnson

Ordained in 1783, the real life Reverend Richard Johnson and his wife came to Sydney on the Golden Grove, conducting a service every Sunday and reading prayers every evening. On arrival in Sydney, he continued to hold Sunday services in the open air or sometimes in a large store.
He and his wife started a small farm, and by the end of 1788, were growing enough vegetables for their own needs.
Rev. Johnson set up schools in Sydney and Parramatta and on Norfolk Island, and in 1793, after continued government inaction on the construction of a promised church, he built his own, largely with his own hands.
Large enough to hold 500 people, it opened in August 1973. He returned to England in around August 1801, taking up a curacy in Kingston-upon-Hull. He continued to take an interest in Australia, appearing before the House of Commons Select Committee on Transportation in 1812. He died in 1827.
Duckling, Lizzie and Meg




These three female characters of OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD appear to be fictitious, created by Thomas Keneally for his novel ‘The Playmaker’, on which this production of OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD is based.
In Keneally’s novel, Duckling’s real name is given as ‘Ann’, but none of the real-life women on board the First Fleet match her name or description. Similarly, for Lizzie Morden, Keneally calls Liz ‘Nancy Turner’ in his novel, but neither that name, or Lizzie Morden, appear on the list of First Fleet convicts.
And there are no female convicts with the surname Long on the list of those sailing on the First Fleet, so it stands to reason that the character of Meg Long is also a fictitious creation by Keneally.


Banbury Cross Players is a member of NODA the national organisation for amateur theatre.
Our Country’s Good won the Pat Redhead Drama award for the best production of a play or drama for the NODA District and then was selected as London Regional Winner 2025.
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