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"All endings are also the beginnings :) "

Presentation

For our next task we were asked in our groups to choose a play and look into the social, political and historical context not only of the play but of the characters within the play. This was so that the rest of the group could understand the play and start to see the characters as they may want to choose them for their monologue work. I feel that this task learnt me the importance of researching into the character i am playing and the background of the play as it gives you a real insight into why they are the way they are in the play which will help in this module as we are not meant to act as this character but rather become them.

My group decided to give our presentation on Our Country's Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker. This is a play i am familiar with as i looked at it during my A-levels. This play not only looks at 'the story of how the first transported convicts came to produce a play, Our Country's good also relates personal stories and individual histories which broaden the plays dialectic and enrich its meaning' - Timberlake Wertenbaker (1987). Our Countrys Good. London: The serpentine publishing company. 23.

My part of the presentation was to look at the character Liz Morden and the historical and social context behind her character. I feel that with the character of Liz Morden in order for the actor to be able to really understand Liz and why she is the way she is in this play they must understand her social and historical background. I feel this is what determines the women she is.

In the mid seventeenth century there was a fear within the middle and upper classes of the raising crime rate, largely due to an increasing population and high unemployment figures. The chosen solution to this problem was the transportation of English convicts to Australia, where they could be used as slaves to build a naval outpost.

She wrote the play after she had read up on the history of the transportation of convicts from England to Australia. To do so she used resources such as the novel The Playmaker by Thomas Keneally, and journals of marines sent to Australia. Through these journals she could get a useful insight into what life for a convict was really like.

Max Stafford-Clark. (). Our Countrys Good. Available: http://www.outofjoint.co.uk/c/our-countrys-good. Last accessed 6th Jan 2014.

The play focuses on the criminal class. This is important to remember when looking into the character of Liz Morden as it explains why she is the way she is. Liz is a rough and tough kind of women who has never had a chance from the word go. I personally feel Liz's story is timeless. She was born into extreme poverty, with a broken home life and no formal education. She has had a lack of positive role models and has been showed no love or affection. Liz has had to grow up very quickly. She has been betrayed and abandoned by her family which leads her into a life of crime and she is sentenced to imprisonment.

During the play the convicts decide to put on a play called the recruitment officer. I feel that this is where u start to see Liz Morden n that women she is. She snatches the play and say's she'll let them know her decision of character, she is very blunt. Then you start to see an aggressive side of Liz during the rehearsals when she gets very snappy and aggressive with other members of the play. However, what the other cast members and the audience don't know yet is that Liz is only acting this way because she cannot read due to her lack of education which goes against her just as everything in her life has.

I feel that the best way to show the social and historical context of Liz Morden and the way i would play her is through her monologue. This takes place just before she is about to go in for hanging. Food has been stolen on board and Liz has instantly got the blame, there's no proof but she gets the blame and is sentenced to death by hanging. She is sat outside the waiting room waiting for her fate to be decided as she gives her monologue. This is the first time Liz opens up and we are all able to see what she has been through making her the way she is today.

We learn that shes never had any luck in life as she says-'lack, dunno the word shifts its bob when i comes near'

Her mum left her when she was young leaving her with her dad and five brothers

In av overpopulated time, where people in Liz's class had no money or food to survive, you have to do what is necessary.

Her own father is caught stealing and blames her-'I was stripped, beaten in the street, everybody watching' You can see how this betrayal of her father would have lead to her bottling up emotions of fear and rage as well as low self esteem.

She tries to kill her father and then goes to her older brother 'don't ask you to be a swell molisher sister, men want Mrs Laycock they don't wannma look at your ugly mug!' this shows the relationship between her and her family and it really isn't a good one!

She then begins to sell her 'mother of all saints' meaning that she goes into prostitution. She meets a guy who becomes her pimp and tells her to 'spice' things up and follow her fathers footsteps by becoming a thief.

She does so but one time gets caught 'the snoozies here and i'm nibbed' I'm not saying that everyone is Liz's situation would turn to crime but i feel its easy to see how it could happen.

'but na Ross don't like my mug i'm nibbed again and its up the ladder to rest for good'

I feel this monologue gives you the best idea of why Liz is the way she is which would help you best become this character. All her life she has been blamed for things she hasn't done and once again she has and its all because Ross doesn't like her!

Having a life where everyone doubts you explains why Liz is so rough and tough i believe. An interesting thing to remember when playing the character of Liz is that yes she has had a tough life, but its made her the strong women she is today and she really doesn't care what anyone thinks of her. It's almost as if her whole life has built up to this one moment.

Max Stafford-Clark. (). Our Countrys Good. Available: http://www.outofjoint.co.uk/c/our-countrys-good. Last accessed 6th Jan 2014.

Timberlake Wertenbaker (1987). Our Countrys Good. London: The serpentine publishing company. p53.

#rough #ging.

thesescattereddreams replied to your post: I think my essay is too long. This has never...

I should probably get started on mine..

Bahaa, you haven't started yet?

Naughty Ging! :3

#thesescattereddreams.#ging.