monagustafsonaffinito   CONVERSATIONS

Where does time go? It was Sunday, June 1, 2014 that we saw “Our Country’s Good” at the Guthrie. My understanding of it was greatly enhanced by what I had learned from the Australian bloggers I follow. My intention at the time was to thank you who contributed to my appreciation. Sorry I’ve been delayed by so many other things that needed doing.

I had visited Port Arthur, where one guide told us about the wonderful things that were done to integrate prisoners into normal life. Another guide told us the treatment of prisoners was cruel. Of course, one assumes the truth lies somewhere in between.

At any rate, mixing that experience with what I’ve learned here, I had a much richer understanding of the theme. On the surface it was the story of how producing and acting in a play humanized the prisoners. Behind it was the story of man’s inhumanity to man, the dehumanizing and brutalizing of criminals thought to be genetically evil, the belief in the natural superiority and authority of the keepers of the prisoners colored by the reality that they too were essentially imprisoned by their roles, and the basic fact that providing people with the opportunity to employ and be respected for their abilities arouses the humanity in all.

Sorry. That’s a run on sentence which, however, conveys the entangled richness of the play. Besides helping to understand the politics of the play, knowledge of the “weirdness” of nature in that place helped to enhance the picture.

All in all, this is an expression of gratitude to you Australians who know who you are. Obviously your efforts are not in vain.