Plays change lives. This inspiring idea lies at the heart of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good, concerning the transforming effect on the convicts of Botany Bay of staging a production — Australia’s first — in 1789. Doubtless it has been a major reason for the play’s huge success over nearly 25 years.

The compelling story, by turns uplifting, tragic and — surprisingly — richly comic, is attracting packed houses to the Everyman Theatre this week.

Most of those sitting spellbound around me in the stalls were sixth-formers. The play has long had a place on the A-level English syllabus The Out of Joint production, under its director Max Stafford-Clark, could hardly be more ‘authentic’, since it was he who commissioned and directed the work in 1988 during his long stint in charge of the Royal Court.

As ever, the ten actors all play naval officers and other representatives of the ruling class, with outstanding work here from John Hollingworth as the liberal-minded Governor, Captain Arthur Phillip, and Ciarán Owens as the officer principally opposed to the drama project.

Nine of them also portray one (or more) of the convicts, Laura Dos Santos as the appealing Mary Brenham, Kathryn O’Reilly as the toughnut Liz Morden, Damola Adelaja as Black Caesar and Ian Redford as the ageing slapper Meg Long (a hoot!), all proving particularly effective.

The single exception is Dominic Thorburn, who excels in the single role of Ralph Clark, the young naval officer with the thankless task, as it might seem, of getting the show on the road.

n Our Country’s Good is at Oxford Playhouse from October 23 to 27. Read an interview with Max Stafford-Clark in Weekend next week.