This is a great production of a great play.

Set in 1789, it follows the founding of the penal colony in New South Wales by Naval Officers and transported convicts. To impress the governor, who is more concerned with educating the criminals and forming a community than with extravagant punishment, young Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark puts on a play. He starts out with only thoughts of self-promotion but as he meets opposition and difficulties from both convicts and officers he finds the play worth fighting for, and it is not only the convict actors who become more human. So far, so worthy? It’s no surprise this play is an A-level text. But that is too simplistic: yes, this play is about the redemptive power of theatre, but that sums it up too neatly. It is a difficult and far-reaching play which touches on social dilemmas, opposing philosophical outlooks and the casual barbarity with which one sector of humanity treats another.

Fortunately it’s also very funny. Timberlake Wertenbaker, herself Australian, took Thomas Keneally’s rambling, well-researched and utterly unfocussed novel and distilled it into something magical. She’s sharpened up the characters, especially the convicts, and we warm to them: hardened Liz Morden, theatrical Sideway, unfortunate Ketch and even starchy officer Ralph. It’s the other officers who remain unlovable with their cold and inanimate preoccupations. This has been brought across very well by the students in this production. For a play relying on characterisation it is made harder to perform because it’s written with nearly all the parts doubled – most actors must change between convict and officer quickly and often, and the cast does this very well. They make use of versatile and effective period costuming: Georgian wigs and coats for officers, and they switch accents at the drop of a hat. Credit must go especially to Louis Brooke for alternating between an Irish lilt and expostulating Glaswegian!

There are many other strengths to this performance, not least the acting. Charlie Reston’s Midshipman Harry Brewer is compelling in his descent into alcoholic madness and the scene where he speaks with voices of the dead is a triumph. Sideway is splendidly spindly and thespian, Dabby obstinate and good-hearted by turns and Liz consistently bullish and rude. Ralph and Mary are less quirky parts, and harder to play, but done well. There are some delightful exchanges away from the main action of the scenes. Good use is made of the minimal scenery (sloping) and easy scene changes, especially Ralph’s tent which is drawn up to the ceiling and billows nicely. The stage is backlit, which is fine to give an impression of the vast desert wastes of Australia, but makes dignified entrances and exits very hard, particularly if you’re supposed to be dead! Sadly this brought the cast laughs they weren’t expecting.

My quibbles with this play are minor, and I suspect they’re really a matter of taste – I found the musical interludes annoying and unrelated to the era, mood or setting of the play, but they’re a small part of the production. More serious there are moments where words are rushed, or too quiet, especially from shy Mary, and I felt some of the monologues were threatening to descend into melodrama. The script is dramatic enough, and while it may be tempting to overplay, it’s probably more heart-wrenching if not overdone. And not a quibble but a warning: some people might be offended by the colourful language, which is not all in 18th Century criminal cant!

The effective elements far outweigh the drawbacks of this production, and it’s well worth seeing. Go and see it, and to misquote: “you will laugh, you may be moved, you may even think a little”!