Thomas Keneally's 1987 novel The Playmaker follows the career and personal life of Ralph Clark, a British lieutenant (and future playmaker) recently transferred to penal Australia . The storyline is loosely based on real events from the late 18th century, when colonial Australia was still something of an experiment and the country was largely unexplored by Europeans. The novel opens with the colony's overseer, commonly known as HE, commissioning Ralph to direct a stage production of George Farquhar's comedy, The Recruiting Officer, featuring the prison's convicts. And as Ralph sets out on this mission, he begins to connect past and present realities with the art of theater - seemingly the only solace in Australia's enigmatic and unpredictable setting - and life turns out to imitate the art. As the play's production matures throughout the novel, its participants mature with it, effectively altering the development of the characters and influencing the course of an indeterminate colony and its inhabitants. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The subject of morality and its connection to art is a recurring theme in the book; Ralph and several other characters often find themselves grappling with an ambiguous spectrum of good and evil, and their theatrical quests are able to guide them toward more progressive moral perspectives. The fourteenth chapter clearly illustrates this development by returning to the pregame leader, Ralph, who prides himself on his loyalty and asserts that it cannot change, saying, "Ralph Clark is still Ralph Clark." Fortunately, not in terms of intelligence, but because of his marriage to a divine bride. People are the people they are” (159). The opinions expressed in this quote, admirable as they may seem, reflect a closed-minded version of Ralph, a version unsure of himself deep down and haunted by his desires for Mary Brenham, the future female protagonist of his play . . Ralph's moral horizons gradually broaden as the play progresses, and he eventually finds it in himself to approach Mary. She returns the favor and the two reunite in a long-awaited outlet of passion: "Clark and Brenham were united...under this moon, rumored to be simply the same as that which gave its light to the Great -Brittany. … What exquisite composed gasps of Farquhar… entered into his cry as he entered” (309). Ralph's sighting of the Australian moon is an innate but uncertain attempt to justify his morally questionable actions. His apprehension of Farquhar, on the other hand, offers him an alternative to reality and thus provides him with the unreal moral resolution he truly needs. This assimilation of art and reality is only intensified when Ralph literally calls Mary by her character's name, Sylvia, in the following paragraph—an action to which she responds appropriately by quoting Sylvia. The narrator notes that “the play, Ralph, and Mary were of one mind” (309), illustrating the successful unification of physical, emotional, and artistic intimacy; art, by connecting Ralph and Mary to the same reshaped sense of morality, ultimately connects them to each other. In addition to changing the moral outlook of the characters, the play also proves to have an influence on each character's self-perception. The director and actors undergo significant intrapersonal changes, mostly for the better, as they become more involved in the production. A small but significant example of the coin's positive impact.