AustLit

'Australia Day: A day off work, an excuse to fire up the barbeque, an opportunity to drink copious amounts of beer and, most importantly, a celebration of our national identity... whatever that is.

'For the members of the Australia Day committee in the small country town of Coriole, the issue of cultural identity is prickly to say the least. If they could agree on what kind of Australia they are celebrating, they might be able to tackle the really big questions: Does a sausage sizzle code as monocultural? And should the special needs kids be forced to perform their dance routine on the national day?

'Suffice to say that with a committee comprising of an ambitious Liberal Mayor, a Greens Councillor, a bigoted builder, an Australian-born Vietnamese school teacher and a member of the CWA, rolling out the Australia Day celebrations will be as complex and controversial as carbon pricing.

'This wickedly funny new play from stalwart of political satire, Jonathan Biggins, was inspired by his own experiences as an Australia Day Ambassador, and will be realised by the comic genius of veteran director, Richard Cottrell.

'In a period when political correctness has overwhelmed us, Biggins' fearlessness is refreshing, but even when he is pointing out our ugliest features he does so with affection and quintessentially Aussie good humour.' (Source: Sydney Theatre Co. website)

'Focussing on two greatly loved characters from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Mr and Mrs Bennet, set twenty five years before the novel.

'Mr James Bennet, only son of Robert Bennet, in his late twenties, has resisted marrying a suitable girl, because he resents his father’s attitude. James and Robert have a difficult relationship because James’ mother died giving birth to him, and Robert has never recovered. Robert does not seek happiness for James, but wishes to expedite a match to ensure male heirs, and keep his dreadful cousin Benedict Collins from inheriting. Collins has recently fathered a son.

'Robert, on the advice of his sister Mary, gives James six months to meet a suitable young woman, and has his lawyer draw up a contract to hold him to it. The family lawyer, George Gardiner, sees an opportunity to throw his attractive, but vulgar daughter in the way of the young landowner. He presents his daughter Emily. James is struck by her beauty, and by the fact that she is not on his father’s list of suitable choices – an added attraction. He woos her in secret. He is taken in by her vulgar ways, mistaking them for a spirited nature.

'Collins comes to stay and boast of his son's birth. James reveals he is engaged. Robert is furious with James, and George Gardiner for his deception. Benedict offers to advise James against marrying Emily. Robert decides he would rather James marry anyone at all than pass his estate to a Collins, so throws Benedict out and agrees to the marriage.

'At a final meeting of the families, it becomes apparent Emily is an unsuitable match for James. The play ends with his realisation that he has acted rashly and bound himself for life to the wrong woman.' (Publication summary)

Set in the late 1940s, the narrative unfolds in and around the outback community of Murrumbilla. At the Sunday School Break-up Picnic we meet the town's personalities, most notably Smiley, an irrepressible larrikin kid with a spontaneous zest for life, who regularly creates havoc by determining to give anything a go! His on-going conflicts with Mrs Gaspen, the self appointed pillar of local society, are most often arbitrated by Police Sergeant Flaxman who, like most residents, tolerates Smiley's impulsive enthusiasm for the whimsical because of the inevitably humorous consequences. In such a harsh environment laughter is a valuable contribution to the rough, homespun texture of daily life. Smiley's father is away droving and, when he is in town, spends most of his time at Rankin's Hotel. His mother is faced with raising Smiley single-handed. She works long and hard to do the best she can, and, as events evolve, comes to rely on the support that the townspeople are able to offer. When Smiley's obsession with owning a bicycle is thwarted by the unexpected return of his father, he is confronted with a complexity of challenges. All eyes watch to see if this "menace to society" has the grit to act responsibly and unselfishly.

The show evokes classic images including a picnic under shady river gums, a bush shack, the country pub, the general store and turns on a bush fire and the breaking of the drought. (ctd. David Spicer Productions, q.v.)