The Convict Theatres of Early Australia, 1788-1840

The first theatrical performance in Australia, the 1788 performance of George Farquhar's play, The Recruiting Officer, by the convicts at Sydney Cove on the birthday of King George III was the subject of Thomas Kenneally's novel, The Playmaker, and Timber Wertenbaker's inspirational play, Our Country's Good, but the first forty years of European theatre in Australia have never until now been the subject of intensive inquiry.