REP to stage "Our Country's Good" at Roselle Center for the Arts

10:55 a.m., March 6, 2012--An Australian beach and a boatload of convicts take the stage at the Thompson Theatre with the Resident Ensemble Players (REP) upcoming production of Our Country’s Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker, playing March 8-23 at the Roselle Center for the Arts.

Based on real events, Wertenbaker’s Olivier Award-winning play is an inspiring, funny and deeply moving tale of the redemptive power of the creative spirit. 

Events Stories

June 5: Blue Hen 5K

University of Delaware graduates planning to attend Alumni Weekend are encouraged to register for the annual Blue Hen 5K walk and run, which will be held Sunday morning, June 5.

June 6-9: Food and culture series

The 20th annual June Lecture Series at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UD in Wilmington will be held June 6-9. Titled 'June a la Carte,' this year's program focuses on great political documents, feminism, world politics and a Newark cuisine sampler.

• June 6-9: Food and culture series
• Through June 30: 'Saving White Clay Creek'
• July 22: WWE Heatwave Tour
• Through Sept. 16: Women of color in academia

In the early days of the settlement of Australia by British prisoners, supplies grow short and hope dwindles. A British lieutenant --  convinced that art can revitalize and restore the human spirit -- decides to raise morale by staging a comedy using the illiterate prisoners as actors. The project meets with powerful opposition from other officers as opening night nears and the lieutenant and his pitiful company of misfits struggle to ready the play. 

Our County’s Good is a poignant love story, a delightful “backstage” peek and a stirring testament to the transformational power of theatre. 

“Wertenbaker has a wonderful way of drawing the audience into the emotional struggles of the characters, while still emphasizing the broader themes of the play,” says REP artistic director Sanford Robbins. “Theatre is not an inessential luxury but is, rather, fundamental and indispensable to us, and its stories can be educative, restorative and ultimately cathartic.” 

Joseph Hanreddy, former artistic director of the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, guest directs the play for the REP.

Performances run from Friday, March 9 through Saturday, March 23, with a preview performance on Thursday, March 8. Tickets are $19 - $25, with discounts for students, seniors and University of Delaware faculty and staff.

Tickets can be purchased by calling the REP box office at 302-831-2204, in person at the Roselle Center for the Arts, 110 Orchard Rd., Newark, or online at www.rep.udel.edu.

Our Country’s Good will be presented at 7:30 p.m. on March 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22 and 23; and at 2 p.m. on March 10, 17 and 18.

Before the March 17 matinee performance, the REP Prologue at 1:15 p.m. will offer a free and informal presentation about the production, designed to enhance patrons’ enjoyment and understanding of what they are about to experience. 

A talk-back with the cast will take place after the evening performance on March 15.

A complete performance schedule, directions and information on purchasing tickets can be found at the REP’s website, www.rep.udel.edu, or by calling the REP’s box office at 302-831-2204.

Photo by Nadine Howatt