THE COUNTRY TEAM, a play by Andrew Rutherford, takes place in South America during the mid-1970s. The imperative for Henry Kissinger’s State Department is to bolster military dictatorships across the region. Integral to this policy is the intentional disregard for human rights.
James Auden, one-time member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, plays Arlan Pederson Hoff, the recently appointed United States Ambassador who confronts his senior career diplomats, the country team, as they turn a blind eye to the killing machine unleashed beyond their fortified embassy. Conflicts within the embassy erupt with the appearance of a Manhattan marketing consultant contracted to give the military regime a benign make-over, and by a visiting American scholar exploring the tense relationship between followers of Liberation Theology and the Catholic Church. Dark events bring members of the country team head-to-head with the junta’s murderous agenda and with each other.
The Country Team is directed by John Haylock and is Andrew Rutherford’s fourth play. It follows sell-out performances at the Arts Centre of Blindspot (2014), Counting the Birches (2015) and Prepare To Leave(2017).
A fundraiser for the Arts Centre. March 16, 7.30pm
