“When you have a choice between a police force, a dialysis machine and theatre it’s always obvious which will come third in that list.”

Speaking after the performance director Max Stafford-Clark admitted theatre is suffering under the Coalition’s cuts.

But Out Of Joint Theatre’s revival of Our Country’s Good underlines why it is so important in society – in this case as an expression of civilisation in a brutal Australian penal colony and a chance for downtrodden prisoners to rediscover their humanity.

The play within a play, which starts as a plan by second lieutenant Ralph Clark to capture the attention of his boss, becomes much more to prisoner cast and director – despite attempts by Clark’s superiors to shut it down.

The division between the aristocratic officer class and the convicts is evident from their language. While Simon Darwen’s Governor Phillip talks of Socrates, Kathryn O’Reilly’s tough prisoner Liz Morden describes her London upbringing in almost incomprehensible 18th-century slang.

Most of the flawless ensemble cast take dual roles – most memorably Richard Neale’s cruel Major Ross and reluctant hangman Ketch Freeman, while others provide unforgettable portraits in O’Reilly’s damaged Liz Morden, Sam Graham’s hallucinating drunkard Harry Brewer, Victoria Gee’s irrepressible Dabby Bryant and Jessica Tomchak’s shy Mary Brenham.

A candidate for the best production at Theatre Royal Brighton this year – don’t miss it.