The Playmaker

by Thomas Keneally

In 1789 in Sydney Cove, the remotest penal colony of the British Empire, a group of convicts and one of their captors unite to stage a play. As felons, perjurers and whores rehearse, their playmaker becomes strangely seduced. For the play's power is mirrored in the rich, varied life of this primitive land, and, not least, in the convict and actress, Mary Brenham.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Australia, Literature, 20th Century, Novels, Historical

356 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright and author of non-fiction. He is best known for writing Schindler's Ark, the Booker Prize-winning novel of 1982, which was inspired by the efforts of Poldek Pfefferberg, a Holocaust survivor. The book would later be adapted to Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List (1993), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Often published under the name Tom Keneally in Australia.

Life and Career:

Born in Sydney, Keneally was educated at St Patrick's College, Strathfield, where a writing prize was named after him. He entered St Patrick's Seminary, Manly to train as a Catholic priest but left before his ordination. He worked as a Sydney schoolteacher before his success as a novelist, and he was a lecturer at the University of New England (1968–70). He has also written screenplays, memoirs and non-fiction books.

Keneally was known as "Mick" until 1964 but began using the name Thomas when he started publishing, after advice from his publisher to use what was really his first name. He is most famous for his Schindler's Ark (1982) (later republished as Schindler's List), which won the Booker Prize and is the basis of the film Schindler's List (1993). Many of his novels are reworkings of historical material, although modern in their psychology and style.

Keneally has also acted in a handful of films. He had a small role in The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (based on his novel) and played Father Marshall in the Fred Schepisi movie, The Devil's Playground (1976) (not to be confused with a similarly-titled documentary by Lucy Walker about the Amish rite of passage called rumspringa).

In 1983, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). He is an Australian Living Treasure.

He is a strong advocate of the Australian republic, meaning the severing of all ties with the British monarchy, and published a book on the subject in Our Republic (1993). Several of his Republican essays appear on the web site of the Australian Republican Movement.

Keneally is a keen supporter of rugby league football, in particular the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles club of the NRL. He made an appearance in the rugby league drama film The Final Winter (2007).

In March 2009, the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, gave an autographed copy of Keneally's Lincoln biography to President Barack Obama as a state gift.

Most recently Thomas Keneally featured as a writer in the critically acclaimed Australian drama, Our Sunburnt Country.

Thomas Keneally's nephew Ben is married to the former NSW Premier, Kristina Keneally.

Reviews

[Hugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another chance find in a second hand bookshop, this is my third Keneally novel this year and my eighth in total, and my respect for the versatility and variety of his writing is still growing.

This is another book with strong historical roots, as it is loosely based on real historical events and characters, a recreation of the anarchic early years of the Sydney penal colony, given focus by the first play to be held there, a 1789 performance of the now largely forgotten early 18th century comedy The Recruiting Officer by George Farquhar.

Another recurrent feature of Keneally's fiction that is strong here is the friction between strict moral codes and judgments and the reality of the dilemmas faced by those who live by them. There is also plenty of humour, and the book is a very enjoyable read.

The book also made an interesting companion piece to another that I read recently, Kate Grenville's The Secret River - in some ways they are complementary, though Grenville's focus is a little later.

[Richard Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Timberlake Wertenbaker's 'Our Country's Good is among my favourite plays, and as this is the book on which it's based I came to it with high expectations. Some were met, while others were not. The depiction of Australia as a foreign world is beautiful, and makes a fine backdrop to the story of Lieutenant Ralph Clark rallying a bunch of prisoners to rehearse and perform a play for the King's birthday. If anything however, it's slightly underused. With Ralph as the point of view character, the world in which the convicts live remains a distant thing that can only be understood second hand, and for me the story suffers within this limitation. Clark's dilemmas, including his infatuation with one of the convicts he directs, are for the most only mildly dramatic, and his inactions were a source of deep frustration as I read along with them. The drama lifts somewhat in the presence of the secondary cast, particularly as the back stories that brought them to Australia unfold, but the novel has little of the thematic precision demonstrated by the play it spawned. By no means a bad book - it's beautifully written, and captures an uneasy time and setting very well - it nevertheless failed to excite me in quite the way I'd hoped.

[Julia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Circumvoluted story, obsolete humour, infinite details about the characters such as the name of their aunt, who used to live in this village, back in that era, along with the sister of that other character, who also lived in the shire.... Not only these details don't add anything to the story but they made me want to shout loudly "who cares?". I certainly did not.
I thought the theme of redemption and identity would be explored further but it is barely brushed by the author. Thomas Keneally obviously worked hard at gathering all the journals and other testimony of that time, and compiling it into this piece of literature shows a lot of ambition. Alas, I think The Playmaker is too ambitious for its own good.
Then again I gave up on this book after 200 pages. I regret not reading the epilogue.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

There isn't one specific thing I can pinpoint that would explain why this is a five-star book. I just couldn't put it down, and it has been haunting me; that has to mean something. It was understated, yet profound. The best piece of historical fiction I've ever read.

[Lulu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Why? Because I love Australian history and this book is a fictional account based on historical fact and I believe it was particularly well written and interesting because the historical record it was primarily based upon was Lt Clarke's personal journal which he wasn't planning to publish so it contains all that great personal opinion and life record which is otherwise impossible to glean from the formal records. And consequently it makes the story and these historical figures more human and relateable.

Also I always wondered what Captain Philip thought about Captain Cook's incorrect direction that Botany Bay was a suitable landing place. Well thanks to Lt Clarke's journal I now know that at least 1 officer thought Cook was an idiot.

*Spoiler alert - and like Keneally, the dramatist in me loves the irony that Clarke's temporary wife and child from the colony were actually his only legacy in the end because Clarke, his official wife and child all shuffle off this mortal coil within a few yrs of Clarke finishing his Australian posting.

And it's a metaphor of sorts because it's Clarke's "new world" child which carries his family line in this "new South wales" which goes on to also survive and become a nation, an outcome which was so very uncertain in the mind of Clarke and others at the time. Maybe if Clarke had embraced the new world and stayed, maybe he too would have lived a long and full life with many more progeny.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

major life advice: do not spontaneously change your mind and choose to write your english coursework on a random book you haven’t actually read yet, but are pretty sure will be good because you’ve read the play based on it.

having said that it will still be a very interesting book to study (even if it was a bit boring to read at times) and has definitely given me a lot to think about. how do i reconcile ralph’s maltreatment of indigenous people and women with his undeniably good intentions with regards to the play, and the genuine positive influences the play has on society? can i really say that art has been an instrument for social change if the officers’ attitudes to minorities remain so obviously discriminatory? rip mr burkinshaw for having to bear witness to this dilemma for the next 4 months

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well. Not exactly the kind of thing that I'm interested in. I will admit that it was a joy watching the play come together in the midst of the wild outback situation filled with criminal lags and wild natives. As well as watch Ralph figure out his situation and his feelings during the course of putting together of the performance. I learned a great deal about the initial stages of Britain sending its criminals to Australia, the difficulties entailed as well as how the great physical and temporal divide affected both Marine and criminal. So, a decent read.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rarely have I gone from disliking a book so much to absolutely loving it. Thanks cuz x

[John Newcomb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on a true story, a marine officer in the first fleet to Sydney Cove, is commissioned to put on a play using the theives, whores and villains who had been transported as actors. The interplay between the military, civil, convict and native communities are explored in a society where sex, food and alcohol are the only valuable commodities and everyone is a very long way from home.

[Bill Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm afraid this one just couldn't get past my 100 page is it worth carrying on test. It's a rambling tale of soldiers and prisoners in the newly established penal colony of Sidney Cove. It was an interesting read but it just wasn't going anywhere. There was no hook for me, nothing to think about or anticipate - just a rambling tale. I suspect it could have been worth sticking at it, if enjoying the words on the page.

Not for me.

[Hanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

What an interesting book. What a horribly interesting book. This book was actually disgusting. The kind of book that makes one want to bury one's head in the sand. The main problem with the book was that it's based on real life. Real debased life. Real debased, depraved life in the late eighteenth century.

See, the book didn't just contain expletives, crude language, adultery, and all the rest of sexual perversity. That was the whole point. Is it wrong, or is it not? Is it wrong to marry someone else when you're already married, even if you're halfway across the world? Unfortunately, the answer was no. So what if Ralph is committed to another woman? There are some whores on this continent that might be attractive, and Ralph doesn't like his wife anymore, anyway. (Or does he? No one really knows, but the fact remains: his feelings toward Alicia were much more unkind than his feelings toward Mary)

What was interesting about this book--aside from the real life aspect--was how it was portrayed as just a way of life. The lifestyle certainly wasn't portrayed as bad, but neither was it portrayed as good. It just was a way of life, and it was necessary. A necessary evil, if you will. Adultery and sodomy were accepted, as well as thievery. Because most of the characters were criminals, criminality was not condemned. It certainly wasn't approved, but again, these people were criminals; they made their beds, now they must lie in them. That's just the way it is, and it wouldn't do any good to harp on the lawlessness. I understand that, yet the whole subject was avoided altogether. (I realized this was because of the author's perspective, not because of the direction he wanted to take the book) Everything was stated very factually; for example, people said what their crime was without flinching or blushing. Since everyone's in the same boat, no one needs to be ashamed or repent. At first I didn't mind that, because I'm sure that's realistic, but it finally got to the point where treating criminals any less than upstanding citizens was wrong. I hate to break it to anyone who doesn't know it already, but there's a reason these people are separated from the real world. (Granted, the punishments back in those days were excessive) They broke the law, and if they haven't reformed, they have no right to be treated like any other upstanding citizen.

Well, that was a long rant. Let me rant some more, this time about the characters. First we have Ralph, the playmaker. Pretty decent guy at first. He didn't take a lag wife. He's a pretty loyal guy. Not a bad friend. Then he starts going downhill. First, we discover that the play he's chosen is absolute garbage. (The worst part is that people find it humorous) Then we discover he doesn't have any regard for Christianity, even though he calls himself a Christian. (I can't remember if he claimed to be a Protestant or Catholic, but it doesn't matter. He doesn't follow any of either's teachings) Finally, he tops it all off and is unfaithful to his wife. (All the while justifying it, of course) Yeah, he's one of the worst protagonists I've ever read.

Then we have Ralph's faithful friend, Harry. Oh, wow, we can get worse. Not only does he have a foul mouth, he also has a criminal past--which he only regrets because he doesn't want to be found out--and he's downright creepy. He has a relationship with a girl that's what--20-something years younger than he? Honestly, I think that's pretty close to sexual abuse, because I don't believe Duckling was very pleased to be in that relationship. (Although I couldn't really tell--it got pretty vague there at the end) But it's okay, because apparently the 'relationship' was more fatherly than anything else. Give me a break.

H.E. was an interesting person. He seemed mysterious to me, because of his initials that were never clarified. I had respect for him for longer than I respected Ralph. But when one character began explaining that H.E. holds high standards not because of a respect for Christian beliefs, but because of some other mumbo jumbo, I just rolled my eyes, and looked for some sand to hide my head in. I appreciated his kindness toward Arabanoo. But these people are so depraved, they think that because H.E. loved someone, that must mean that he's a Sodomite! Ugh. I think they need a real Christian example. (Which leads me to my next character ...)

Pastor Dick Johnson. How many times can we deride the only continent's pastor? For being too weak, for being too strict (Oh, he doesn't approve of a play filled with sexual innuendo, that reflects the current situation on this penal colony? How could he?!), for condemning Ralph for his filthiness ... Dick was condemned for being too strict, but in reality he was much too weak. I'm certain much of the pastor's portrayal is due to the author's perspective, but Dick didn't act like a Christian much. He confronted Ralph in a pretty good way, but in any other aspects of life, he doesn't assert any authority. He doesn't have a reputation of being a minister, one who can lead you to repentance and a new life. He has the reputation of someone you can ask a favor from, and maybe he'll help you. But mostly, he's that naysayer in the background. He made arguments against the play (pretty good ones, in my opinion) but they weren't refuted. Just ignored. It's nice to be able to ignore reason and truth. People do it all the time nowadays. Why not portray that in a book?

That said, it was an interesting look into the penal colony of the late 1700's. (That's the only reason I read this book, anyway) I wasn't as bothered by the content as I could have been because of the ... blasé approach to all of the sin. It was both detailed and glossed over at the same time. The details were not sensual. I'm not sure they were particularly glorified. But there is no avoiding it. As I said, that's what the whole plot revolves around. And the conclusion is far from satisfactory. I would only recommend this book if you really need information about the New South Wales penal colony in the late 1700's, and you don't mind a bit more than a smattering of language. (Harry is the worst offender) The historical fact part of it is the only reason my star rating reached a two. Other than that, it was merely a reflection of the most debased society.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a story about a playmaker, there's relatively little in this novel about the play itself. Instead it meanders through the lives and events of the characters of Australia's first colony. Some of these lives are interesting, some not. When the story grips, it grips like Ketch's noose, but for large parts it languishes like a prison hulk caught in the doldrums.

[Khee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, having read Watkin Tench's book earlier in the year It is a period of Australia's history that really interests me. Unfortunately the Tench book was a much more satisfying read. The central character left me a bit cold in The Playmaker, whereas Tench had me fascinated. Oh well.

[Old Man JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thomas Keneally is hit and miss for me and this one is pretty much in the middle. The story is about very early European Australia when it was populated by prisoners and the first play to be held there. It gives a little history of each of the players and, more importantly, a history of life during this time. I enjoyed the history but the book never really got me fully invested.

[Nick Carraway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based on real people and events, Thomas Keneally’s The Playmaker is one of the best historical novels I have ever read (up there with Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series, which is exceptionally high praise). Keneally’s characters are vivid and engaging, his dialogue precisely appropriate to each character and to the overall penal colony language level depending on who is speaking (slang “cant” included), and his interwoven plots are intriguing every step of the way. Every aspect of the book is wholly credible and believable. Each time I had to put it down, I couldn’t wait to get back into the story, which stuck in my head in the meantime, and continues to do so afterward. In a very subtle, clever way he integrates the plot of Farquhar’s play (which the leading character, Lt. Ralph Clark is staging), along with historical context (brought to this remote location by letters and by officers of a rare supply ship). He examines, with sensitivity and lack of proselytizing, various questions of religion, superstition, sociology, and military conduct. He also presents intelligently, with touching empathy, the plight of the colony’s aborigines, and their fraught relationship with the invading colonists. Most impressive is Keneally’s crafting of language which in my mind in many instances approaches poetry. Just read the following passage, and see if it is to your liking (if so, you might love this book as I did; if it is too abstract for you, you may not). In this terribly isolated, expansive beachhead on a far continent, Clark muses that “the human spirit, which some thought of as angelic but which in fact might well be a dark and toadish thing, bloated itself to take advantage of available spaces. In Plymouth [his home], Ralph thought, you often had the sense that people were breathing their souls in, tightening the belts of their spirits. Here they beathed out and out. They grabbed the square yardage of the night sky; they expanded beyond reason.” This is simply an outstanding, unforgettable work.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a remarkable story told by a remarkable writer. You can hear the same tale told by Timberlake Wertenbaker in Our Country’s Good (a brilliant play commissioned and performed by The Royal Court ...I was lucky enough to see it twice (and get to have a bit of a chat with Max Stafford Clark .. until he got a bit grumpy at a joke I made ... quite a funny joke in fact but the great man was a little touchy) and by the above mentioned Stafford Clark himself in his book Letters to George. And by Robert Hughes in The Fatal Shore (which I bought some time ago but have been put off by the heft up to press).

This is a birth of a nation novel, a novel of the redemptive powers of theatre, a book about the rights and wrongs (more wrong than right) of off-loading your supposed undesirables to a third country, a novel about punishment (lots of hangings, very little deterence!), a novel about status and a novel about love (of another person, of justice, of country, of the theatre, of God).

I’m not sure there is a writer better able to bring out the truth of historical events through fiction. It is very much fiction. But it feels very true. Reminds me of the old saying: non-fiction deals with facts, fiction with truth. A great book.

[Alistair Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book by an author who rarely disappoints. Set in the early days of the penal colony at Sydney it tells the interlocking stories of the staging of a play ,"the recruiting officer" and the backgrounds of the prisoners and guards / officers. There are also sub plots of relationships between prisoners ,"she lags" and the men, perhaps inevitable given that wives were generally banned from travelling to the colony.
There is a sense of isolation, New South Wales might as well be on the moon in those days and underlying themes of morality, jealousy, loyalty and redemption all within an historically accurate structure. I did find the character of Governor Phillips (H.E) to be one of the weaker and lesd well defined ones, maybe this was intentional as he is not the focus of the story. I found the character of Harry Brewer, tormented by ghosts and barely one step removed from the prisoners himself in his actions to be well described, his relationship with Duckling clearly one of mutual destruction.
All in all a stunning novel.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh! The treasures you'll find at a used book sale! I first discovered the talent of author Thomas Keneally when I picked up The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith from the bargain bin. There is something strange and wonderful about his writing that makes "Jimmy" Top Notch.
Then The Playmaker caught my attention at another book sale--I recommended it to my Book Club. We loved the story for the history of Australia, the complexity of the story, Keneally's singsong vocabulary, and his interesting characters. The metaphorical implications of performing a play in a penal colony on an island run by Brits and inhabited by native people who were there first--Book Club will have a lot to chew on there. I can't quit Australia now-- The Fatal Shoreby Robert Hughes, which I bought at a book sale long ago, called to me and here I go.

[Karim Lalani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superb! This immaculately researched novel based on true events by Booker Prize winning author Thomas Keneally is outstanding. I found some of it hard going, however in terms of a concept of an idea it is hugely satisfying. Telling the story of Sydney Cove New South Wales in it's infancy as a penal colony at the edge of the world contrasting with the vibrant modern Australia we know today could possibly only be done to this standard by one of the best novelists his country has ever produced.

I highly recommend this novel to anyone reading Keneally for the first time, while his legion of fans around the world will doubtless have read it already and been impressed by the quality of his prose. It bears the mark of fine story-telling

[Jocelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have put down Grog : a bottled history of Australia's first 30 years because I wanted better story-telling, and coincidentally (?) chose this to read next. That was fun, because a lot of the story was fresh in my mind as history, and I enjoyed seeing it used so faithfully in fiction. I also really enjoyed the joy Ralph got from being a stage manager, and the vivid portrait of H.E. (aka His Excellency Arthur Phillip)

[Dsolove · Rating 3 out of 5]

A novel based on a journal kept by a Lt. Clark who was with the first convicts to be sent to Australia. It was a difficult book to read because not only did the author jump around timewise but the characters were numerous and often had more than one name. The play being put on in the most primitive of conditions in honor of the King's birthday would be an absurd premise if it had not actually happened! Finally, it is written by the author of Schindler's List and I have liked several of his novels. A marvelous look at the origins of Australia and at the early somewhat friendly contacts with the aborigines.

[Tim O'Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Thomas Keneally, and find this one up to his usual high standard. This is the story set among the original setters/convicts and their captors, and their attempt to introduce some elements of the world they left behind. Australia must have felt like another planet to the first settlers and this sense of desolation is well captured. The differences in class between the educated officers and guards, and the illiterate convicts, particularly the females, are well drawn. If you want to learn a little more about Australia,s first settlers, this is not a bad place to start

[Peter Trumper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt this was an ambitious attempt to capture a moment in history, the production and performance of a play in one of the first penal colonies in Australia, bringing out the many personal histories, ironies and contradictions involved in the foundation of a colony.
While our understanding of the characters is often deepened by the role they play in the theatre, at times I felt I was losing the overall thread and purpose of the book. Perhaps that's down to my limitations as a reader, but it did get in the way of my enjoyment of what was otherwise a fascinating book

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lieutenant Ralph Clark is tasked with directing The Recruiting Officer in 1789 Sydney using convicts as actors, in a plot using historical characters but interesting more for the back-stories of many and the incidental struggles and the fascination and wonder of the new environment. Well researched and non-anachronistic, the military and the officials come across as individuals and the convicts as often self-created victims. Clark, tempted by potential infidelity, feels real as does David Collins. An immersive read

[Mars · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author balanced historical events and people with a fictional whimsy and excitement that brings modern people into the past and past stories into modern light. Heartbreaking elements such as the character (based on the real person) of Arabanoo, the treatment of the female characters, and such reminds us viewers of the tragedies which shaped Australia as a nation, while still being an entertaining read to suit long train journeys and evening cups of tea.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story of convicts putting on the first play in Sydney around 1780. Really interesting portrayal of a colony on the edge of the world where old moral certainties find themselves under strain. How can people interact when "society" has so little meaning, and how do the Aboriginal people fit into this?

[Ginny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggled with the first third of the book and was rewarded with more plot later on. While I admire Keneally’s mastery of 1750s English, the meaning of some of the phrases were lost on me.

It was hard to remember all the characters and their backstories, but in the end, I did find the history fascinating.

[Katyana McArdle · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging read; quite different from my usual choices. Good pacing throughout, and keeps you wrapped up in the story - it captures the monotony and dire circumstances of the situation, with plenty of changes of scene/action to keep the reader going. Interesting plot and characters; and handles the subject matter well.

[Lorraine Sale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably 3.5 rather than 4. It fleshed out the scenario of My Country’s Good on which it is loosely based. Keneally does a good job of taking actual recorded events and characters and bringing them to life for us.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some 20+ years after leaving school I decided to take A-Level English Correspondence course because this was on the reading list. It is one of my top 5 favourite book of all time and a book I can read time and time again, each time learning something new.