Our Country's Good

I’m writing this in the interval of the National Theatre’s production of ‘Our Country's Good’, and remembering.

The play, I studied a long time ago as a sixth form Performing Arts student in Bury. I remember the experience fondly, despite possessing no talent as an actor. I remember the delicious naughtiness of swearing and hearing teachers swear. I remember trying to make sense of the context, the message. Whatever appealed at the time, the play stuck with me. And now, seeing it on stage for the first time, I actually get it.

I don't think my response to the production is pure nostalgia. When I saw ‘A Taste of Honey’, also at the NT, a few years ago, I hated it, and that was a play I love, have taught, and have studied in depth. I didn't feel those characters live and breathe, despite knowing them like old friends.

A teacher myself now, however, I see my students in Wertenbaker’s unruly mob of convicts trying to get to grips with their lines and a totally alien society. I see Liz Morden accused of a crime and refusing to speak, ‘because it will do no good’ and I feel it, I know it.

‘Our Country's Good’ lives and breaths. It feels like a relevant, current comment on social justice and reform. Of course, the striking and beautiful sound and set design make it stand out, but the quality of the writing, the humour the actors bring to the stage, and the power of the message are what make for a brilliant, vibrant experience.

Go and see it.

And think about the power of reform, of social mobility, of education.

Then look to the state of modern Britain, and think some more.