Australian Theatre for Young People and Youth Action present
Saplings
“I wasn’t there ‘cause I wanted to be, I was there ‘cause I had to be, okay? If Josh hadn’t eaten my noodles, I wouldn’t be here.”
Would you risk breaking bail for a packet of Mi Goreng? Would you snitch on a mate to save your own skin? Around here, ordinary days can turn on you so fast you’ve still got a smile on your face as your hopes die in your hands.
Yani wants to go to the Easter Show, Kai wants a sense of home, Shanika wants her Mum back, and Lachlan…well, he just wants his bowl of noodles. But when the justice system is all that stands between these young people and what they want, it raises an important question—how do young people grow when the system keeps cutting them down?
Yuwaalaray playwright Hannah Belanszky and Kalkadoon director Abbie-lee Lewis bring their exceptional talent to the stage for Saplings, a collection of hilarious and heartbreaking stories born from workshops with young people experiencing the youth justice system from Marrickville to Moree. Four talented young actors take on multiple roles in this poetic, personal, and unexpected production that will leave you asking who’s really to blame.
Set to a soundtrack of rap and hip-hop music made by young people in the youth justice system, Saplings gives an honest, raw look into the adult consequences faced by some of our most vulnerable. Join us at The Rebel Theatre for a night of laughter, tears, and celebration of the survival instincts of young people.
WARNINGS: Coarse language (swearing), haze, loud noises, and references to First Nations peoples who are deceased.
Preview 24 January
Season 25 January – 04 February
Youth Services Matinee
Friday 02 February, 2:00pm
6.30pm Wednesday
7.30pm Thursday – Saturday
5pm Sunday
Matinees
Saturday 27 January, 2:00pm
Friday 2 February, 2:00pm
80 minutes (no interval)
14+
General Admission $35
The Rebel Theatre
Pier 2/3, 13A Hickson Road, Dawes Point, NSW 2000, Eora Country
Creative Team
WRITER
Hannah Belanszky
DIRECTOR
Abbie-lee Lewis
DRAMATURG
Jane FitzGerald
CO-SET & COSTUME DESIGNER
Angela Doherty
CO-SET & LIGHTING DESIGNER
Morgan Moroney
COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER
Michael Weir
ASSOCIATE SOUND DESIGNER
Gryffyn Long
FIGHT DIRECTOR
Tim Dashwood
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Harry Dowling
STAGE MANAGER
Milly Grindrod
PRODUCER
Hayden Tonazzi
WORKSHOP FACILITATOR
George Kemp
WITH
Maliyan Blair
Nyasha Ogden
Wesley Patten
Ioane Sa’ula
IMAGE
Clare Hawley
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
ATYP is working with Youth Action, the peak body for organisations working in Youth Justice in NSW, to develop a performance that would communicate the lived experience of young people in contact with the justice system. The aim of the project was to develop a theatre production from a series of workshops with young people with lived experience with the justice system from Western Sydney and Regional NSW.
