Stolen
The premiere of Jane Harrison’s Stolen marks the second production of this poignant play from Sydney Theatre Company in less than twenty years. The performance, directed by Ian Michael, stays true to Harrison’s work while evolving the play for a new generation. However this generation, albeit more cognisant of the truth of Stolen Generations, may be unaware of the extent of the hurt and trauma, which Michael effectively centres on here. The play focuses on the lives of five Indigenous children who have been forcibly removed and sent to live in a children’s home. Each child's life diverges as teenagers and young adults, as they begin to cope with the aftermath of being removed from their families and their culture in their own way. This production takes a powerfully eerie approach, opening with a focus on Renée Mulder's simple but effective set design, featuring an oversized filing cabinet and a single dingy, institutional iron bed. The abnormally large size of these props creates a nightmarish spectacle. This effect is amplified when each character enters against a backdrop of silence, which is abruptly broken as they plead to the audience for any information about their parents. This gut-wrenching opening scene is an incredibly impactful choice.However, it also sets a high bar for the remainder of the play to keep pace with, and the chilling opening is also heavily relied on for expressing the extent of the horror and cruelty these children experience. This production emp