AUSTRALIANS don’t like to be reminded of their dubious heritage much like the British don’t like to think about the atrocities carried out in the name of its Empire. So it’s a brave theatre company that decides to write a musical about it and perform it, with full gusto, in Sydney.

It therefore makes sense that one of the two organisations behind The Convict’s Opera, based on John Gay’s 18th century original, is one of the most prestigious Down Under.

Sydney Theatre Company, whose co- director is none other than Oscar winning actress Cate Blanchett, paired up with London’s Out of Joint.

"I think they slightly resented a group of Poms coming over and telling them what essentially they feel is their history, but of course it’s our history too," says British actress Catherine Russell, of the Australian audience.

"They still have a slight concern about coming from convicts and don’t particularly like to be reminded of it by us. It went down well in Sydney but not as well as here."

Like the other nine actors (five Australians and five Brits) Catherine plays several characters in the show, which is set on a ship bound for New South Wales. Despite the physical distance between the two theatre companies, she feels the main challenge was not one of geography.

"The thing that made the difference was that we’ve all come from completely different parts of the business – we’ve got opera singers, actors and musicians – and yet we were all having to do the same job and come out with having the same voice so the audience can’t tell where we’ve come from," she explains.

Not a trained singer, she had to concentrate on improving her voice. But even this, she reveals, was nothing compared to learning to play a drum.

"It’s not exactly a complicated piece of kit I’ve got but there’s something incredibly difficult about playing one rhythm and singing a different one, which is why I suspect most drummers don’t tend to sing," she laughs.

"More fool me, when they started off in rehearsal they realised they needed the rhythm being kept on some of the numbers, and I went ‘Oh I’ll do that’, naively believing that because I can clap in time I’d be able to play a drum. I’ve just about got it now."

Five weeks of rehearsals took place at the Sydney Theatre Company’s base. Blanchett, who started her acting career under its tutelage (as did Mel Gibson and Toni Colette), was there to greet them.