Physical plane

Act 1

Place

ALL OF THEM EXCEPT THE ABORIGINE

Scene 1, pg. 185
● The hold of a convict ship. The convicts huddle together in the semi-darkness. On
deck.
What type of ship? How new or old is it? What size is it? What materials is it made of?
● The sea cracks against the ship.
Which sea? What weather? How far from land?

Scene 2, pg.186
THE ABORIGINE
● Botany Bay. Where is botany bay? How big is it? What shape? What nature is visible?
● A giant canoe drifts on to the sea, clouds billowing from upright oars. What parts of
the ship do they mean? Are the clouds smoke? How much smoke? How far away from
the shore?

The canoe is
Scene 3, pg.186
COLLINS
● Sydney Cove. Where is it? What does it look like? What animals are there? What
threats are there?
● Showing up to this place that is deeply unfamiliar and unsafe for them

Animals:
Full of animals they’ve never seen before, and everything is a potential threat
Is it going to eat me or attack me? Can I eat this?
Kangaroo
Cockatoos
Snakes
Deadly spiders
Koalas
Lizards and scorpions
Dingoes
Crocodiles and alligators
Possums
Cassowary

The Aboriginal Australians

 - Appear and dress very differently
- Speak different language

The Landscape:
- Thick, impenetrable land

● Collins, The colony’s stores. What part of the island? Are theft brick and mortar or a
tent or in a cave? How large are they? What is the layout? How do they store the food?
What food is in there? How much of each type of food? How do they preserve the food?
Is it kept cold and if so how? Who has access to it? How is it kept locked or is it
guarded? Who guards it?

● Collins, And that, over there on the Eucalyptus, is a flock of Cacatua galerita - the
sulphur-crested cockatoo. You have been made Governor-in-Chief of a paradise of birds,
Arthur. How many Eucalyptus trees are there? How tall are they? What shape and colour
are the leaves? Are they near? How many birds are in the flock? Are they scattered on
the tree or huddled? What branches are they on? What size are they?

Scene 4, pg.190
RALPH
● Ralph Clark’s tent. Where did he get the tent? Is it his or does he have the same one as
all the officers? Is it in good nick, or battered? What colour, shape, size, material is it?
Where is it located? Is it near other tents?

● He goes to his table. Is it a makeshift one? Is it made of wood? Varnished? Was it built
by one of the convicts? Was it transported on the ship and used on the way? How does
he feel about the table? Where in the tent is it? Is it a high or low table? What’s on it? Is
it stained or scratched or very clean and shiny?

Props objects

Scene 1, pg.185
SIDEWAY
● Sideway is being flogged. Lashes. Sideway is untied.
What is he being flogged with? Who is flogging him? What is he tied with? What parts of
him were tied up?

Scene 3, pg.186
PHILIP and COLLINS, and the men
 ● The men are shooting birds. Do all of them have guns? What type of guns? In what
condition? Philip says on pg.188 I’ll have the gun now. That indicates there’s only one
gun. Or at least they are sharing a few, there isn’t a gun to each man.
What kind of birds? One kind or multiple? How many? What colour plumage? What are
their calls, do they sing? What size are they?

● Collins, there, a bald-eyed corella. What does that Australian bird look like? How far
away is it?

● pg.188, Collins, We don’t even have any books here, apart from the odd play and a
few Bibles.
What plays are they? How many? Are they available to all? Who brought them? Where
are they being kept? And who brought them, do they own them, did different people
bring them? Where are they now? Are they in good nick, or not?

● pg.189, Phillip, Oh, look! We’ve frightened a kankaroo.[kangaroo] What height and
width is it? What shape and colour is it? Is it close? Is it moving or stationary?

Scene 4, pg.190
RALPH CLARKE
●
Diary. What material, size, colour, age is it? How filled up is it? What is his handwriting
like? Is it locked or can anyone read it if they find it? Are there any stains on it? How
weathered is it’s cover? What was it written with?

● I shot one cockatoo - they are the most beautiful birds. How far away was it? Was it
still or flying?

● Major Ross ordered one of the Corporals to flog with a rope Elizabeth Morden.
How long was the rope? How old was it? How heavy?

● kissed your dear beloved image a thousand times. Is it a drawing done by a

professional? By him? How long has he had it? Is it of just her or were there other
people in the image that he ripped out? Is she smiling or stone faced? What is she
wearing? What does she look like? Where was the picture drawn? Is it etched or
painted?

● Writes in his journal [Ralphs]. What does he write with? Is it a quill and ink? Is it a
fountain pen? Is it charcoal? What are its dimensions? What material is it made of?
Where did he get it? Does he have multiple writing utensils or just one?

● pg.191, AND HARRY I saw the light in your tent. Where is the light in your tent? Is it
coming from fire, like a candle? Or is it a gaslight? What does it look like? Is it
transportable, or fixed in place? Is it banjaxed or in fine fettle?
 ● I read The Tragedy of Lady Jane Grey on the ship. He surely brought it with him onto
the island from the ship, right? Is it a secondhand copy, or brand spanking new? Did he
purchase it or was he given it?

RALPH and MEG, THEN SIDEWAY

● pg.195, Here’s the play. It’s called The Recruiting Officer. Who brought it? Where is it
from? What does it look like?

● Drury lane. Coaches. The churchyard. The Market Stalls. What kind of buildings are
on that lane? What do the people look like in that street? What horses pull the coaches?
What do they coachmen wear, how old are they? What church is it? Is the yard large or
really small? What’s in it? What do they sell in the stalls? What do they people who run
them look like?

MARY BRENHAM, DABBY BYRANT

● Bryant “She used to read to us on the ship”. What did Brenham read to them? Were
they her own books? Did they stay on the ship? Are they the same books that were
mentioned earlier? As in a couple plays and a bible?
● “You will have to copy the play. We only have two copies.” Why do they only have
two copies? Are they handwritten, one or both of them? Is so who by? What are they
written with? What condition are the two copies in? Is one easier to read than the other?

Scene 6
PHILLIP, ROBBIE, RALPH, DAVID, WATKIN, JEMMY, REVEREND,
GEORGE, WILL, WILLIAM

● “The men have been drinking” what were they drinking? Who owned the drink?
● Dawes “The sky of the southern hemisphere is full of wonders. Have you looked at the
constellations?”
● Tench “They can’t even build a proper canoe”
● Collins “The Romans built their bridges”
● Ralph “at the theatre, in London”
● Collins and Ralph “England”

Scene 7
HARRY, DUCKLING
 ● Rowing
What kind of boat do they row in?
How big is the boat?
● The Captain’s house, his garden
● Ralph’s Island
● Eucalyptus tree
● The Courthouse
● the women’s camp
● Thames
● Newgate
● The Three orange trees
● Turnips
● On the breach
● In my [harry’s] tent
● Under the trees
● A biscuit
● In chains
● On the ship

Scene 8
DABBY, MARY

● Devon
● Bigbury Bay
● A wall of stone
● The Atlantic
● The estuary
● A boat
● Harbour
● This flat, brittle, burnt-out country
● English rain
● Devon rain
● Your breasts
● Lieutenant Clark’s dimpled cheeks
● Lanky sailor
● That stinking pit of a hold
● That ship
● Skirt
● Tattoo ‘A.H I love thee to the heart
● Three pounds of beef a week instead of two
● Two extra ounces of cheese
● Convict ship
● She reads
● The book
 ● Your ropes

Scene 9
RALPH, KETCH

● His dear wife’s picture

● Tent
● Candle light, Candle, to light it
● His watch
● His bible
● The women’s camp
● kankaroo
● I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, cinnamon
● Sarah flogged
● Ireland
● Westminster
● Shadwell Dock
● Cudgel
● Bed
● Our village

Scene 10
JOHN, MARY

● Copying ‘The Recruiting Officer’

● Carrying bricks
● The coach
● Trees
● Grass
● Houses of the dead
● Old clothes
● Poorhouses by the Thames
● Johnson’s dictionary

Scene 11
RALPH, ROBERT, JOHN, MARY, LIZ, DABBY, DUCKLING, KETCH

● That old toss pot’s garden

● Your hut Wisehammer
● The wings
● Sideways wiper, handkerchief
● The stage
● Germany
● America
 ● Madagascar
● Melinda’s apartments
● Town
● Shrewsbury
● The big houses
● Potatoes
● Roast beef and yorkshire pudding
● White bread
● Hearts of palm
● Fried eggs
● Eels
● Oysters
● The welsh mountains
● Boarding school
● Horse
● Little piece of wood
● Fan
● Colony’s stores
● The door

Act 2

Costume clothes

Scene 3 - Pg 249
Duckling
Skirts
- How long is her skirt?
- What Color is the skirt?
- Is it new or worn out?
- How many layers are there?
- Is it plain or patterned?

Scene 5 - Pg 251
Sideway
Shirt
- What kind of shirt is he wearing? Is it buttoned up, or a loose tshirt.
- How dirty is it?
- What Color is it?
- Is it ripped up or new?

Scarred back
“One hundred lashes on the Sirius for answering an officer.”
“Three hundred lashes for trying to strike the same officer”
 - How old do the scars look?
- Are any of them fully healed?
- What Color would the scars appear to be? Dark brown? Light brown?

Scene 5/7 - Pg 252/259

Mary
Skirt
- Is this the same skirt from scene 3?
- How long is her skirt?
- What Color is the skirt?
- Is it new or worn out?
- How many layers are there?
- Is it plain or patterned?

Scene 9
Mary
Top “She begins to undress, from the top”
- what kind of top is it?
- Does it have buttons?
- What Color is the top?
- How revealing is it?
- How old or new does it look?

Set

Scene 1
- Are they in a jail cell? Or just in an open prison space?
- Is the space dirty?
- How dark is it?
- What are the walls made of? Brick, concrete or wood?

Scene 2 - Pg 247
Harry Brewer
Tent
- How big is the tent? Is it spacious or cramped up?
- What is the Color of the tent?
- Is the space brightly or dimly lit?

Scene 9 - Pg 265
Mary and Ralph
“The beach. Night”
- Is there physical sand on the beach?
- How dirty or clean is the beach?
- Can you hear the sounds of waves?
- How dark is the night? Are there lights around? What is the light source?
- Can you see the moon?
- How late at night is it?

Props
Scene 1 - pg 240

Liz, Wisehammer, Ascott, Caesar

Chains
- What color are the chains? (Bronze, dark silver)
- How old are the chains? (Rusty or brand new)
- What material are the chains made of? (Metal, steel)
- Are the chains reused and possibly stained with disease, blood, viruses etc.

Scene 1 - Page 242

Arscott
Piece of paper that says North
- What Color is the paper? (White, brown, grey)
- Does it have any other writings on it?
- Is it a plain piece of paper or has it been used for something else.

“He hands Wisehammer a carefully folded, wrinkled piece of paper

Scene 1 - Pg 243

Sideway for Liz

Fan
- What type of fan is it?
- Is it made of paper? Cloth? Wood?
- What color is the fan?
- Is it an actual fan or is it a makeshift one?
- Is the fan brand new or old?
- Is the fan decorated with patterns or lace?

Scene 3 - Pg. 247

Harry Brewer
Rum
 - Is he drinking this from a cup or directly from the bottle
- What kind of Rum is this? Is it expensive or cheap?
- How much rum is left in the glass/ bottle?

Scene 6 - 254
Ketch and Liz
Rope
- What Color is the rope?
- How long is it?
- Is it new or stained with blood?
- How thick is it?

Scene 7 - 258
Wisehammer
“I’ve written something…Will you look at it, Lieutenant“
Written prologue
- Is it written on a piece of scrap paper, writing paper, news paper?
- How big is the paper?
- What color is it? - How old is the paper?
- Is it neatly folded or bunched up?
- Is it crumpled or in pristine condition?

Scene - pg 263,278
Dabby
Chickens - “Buy chickens, young and tender, young and tender chickens?”

- Is she holding actual chickens or just miming it?

- Are the chickens fake or real?
- Are they all raw or cooked?
- Do they still have feathers attached?
- How many chickens are there?

Scene 11 - pg 271
Mary
Orange
- is the orange ripe?
- How big is the orange?
- What type or orange is it?
- Does it have any leaves, stems attached?

Scene 11 - pg 278
Sideway
Salt
- What is the salt stored in?
 - Is it clean or dirty?
- How much salt is there?

Scene 11 - pg 289
Arscott
Halbert
- Is the Halbert real?
- How big is it?
- What is the colour?
- How old does it look?
Scene 11 - pg 289
Caesar
Drum
- how big is the drum?
- Is the drum a real one or a makeshift one?
- How loud does the drum go?