STOLEN
By Jane Harrison
Directed by Ian Michael

From home, from Country

Five adults stand in a darkened room, their childhoods playing out across the walls like shadows. Five suitcases in their hands, each filled with painful memories and forgotten histories. Five beds, perfectly made and ready to receive five children who have been torn away from their families. Five lives, stolen.

Sydney Theatre Company is thrilled to welcome back Muruwari playwright Jane Harrison (The Visitors) who first penned this classic Australian play in 1998. Following his breakout hit and STC directorial debut Constellations, STC Resident Director and Wilman Noongar man Ian Michael will helm this bold new production of a play that is just as powerful, moving, and vitally relevant as the day it premiered.

Stolen tells the stories of Jimmy, Ruby, Shirley, Sandy, and Anne: five members of the Stolen Generation, whose lives are irrevocably altered by their experiences in a social and political system that sought to erase their cultural identity forever.

With its script that slips seamlessly between the past and the present, and an incredible cast featuring Waanyi, Djiru, Kuku Yalanji and Yidinji actor Jarron Andy, Wongatha actor Mathew Cooper (Hubris & Humiliation), Truwulway and Nunga actor Kartanya Maynard (Amazon Prime’s Deadloch), Martu actor Stephanie Somerville (Chalkface), and Gamilaroi actor Megan Wilding (The Importance of Being Earnest), Stolen is essential viewing as a record of Australian history, a deeply touching human story, and a galvanizing light shone on the ongoing injustices faced by the First Nations people of this country.

Approx. duration 85 mins (no interval).
Content Strong language, racist language, depiction of suicide, references to child abuse, violence and intergenerational trauma, theatrical blood, theatrical haze and flashing light effects.