''No Sugar'' is a

postcolonial Postcolonialism is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonized people and their lands. More specifically, it is a ...

play written by

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

playwright Jack Davis, set during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, in

Northam, Western Australia Northam () is a town in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated at the confluence of the Avon and Mortlock Rivers, about east-northeast of Perth in the Avon Valley. At the 2016 census, Northam had a population of 6,548. Northa ...

Moore River Native Settlement The Moore River Native Settlement was the name of the now defunct Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal settlement and internment camp located north of Perth and west of Mogumber, Western Australia, Mogumber in Western Australia, near the Source ...

and

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. The play focuses on the Millimurras, an Australian Aboriginal family, and their attempts at subsistence. The play explores the marginalisation of

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

in the 1920s and 1930s in Australia under the jurisdiction of a white government. The pivotal themes in the play include

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

, white empowerment and superiority, Aboriginal disempowerment, the materialistic values held by the white Australians, Aboriginal dependency on their colonisers, and the value of family held by Aboriginal people. The play was first performed by the Playhouse Company in association with the Australian Theatre Trust, for the

Festival of Perth Perth Festival, named Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) between 2000 and 2017, and sometimes referred to as the Festival of Perth, is Australia's longest-running cultural festival, held annually in Western Australia. The program features ...

on 18 February 1985. It also was chosen as a contribution to

Expo 86 The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a World's Fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...

in Canada ''No Sugar'' forms the first part of a trilogy, the First Born Trilogy, which also includes the titles ''The Dreamers'' and ''Barungin (Smell the Wind)''. The trilogy was first performed by the

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre com ...

in May 1988 at the

Fitzroy Town Hall Fitzroy Town Hall is a civic building located in Napier Street in Fitzroy, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. It was constructed in two separate stages. The first consisted of a hall and tower which was designed by William J. Ellis and built i ...

. The play won the 1987 Western Australian Premiers Award and in 1992 the

Kate Challis RAKA Award The Kate Challis RAKA Award is an arts award worth , awarded annually by the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia to Indigenous Australian creative artists. It is awarded in a five-year cycle, each year in a different area of the arts: ...

for Indigenous Playwrights. The play utilises the perambulant model, which is a technique used in drama to dislocate the audience involving multiple points of focus. Throughout ''No Sugar'' it is employed to convey a sense of displacement to the audience, representative of the isolation felt by the Aboriginal people unable and unwilling to assimilate to white culture.

Characters

Jimmy Munday, the protagonist. Gran Munday, Jimmy's mother, a traditional Aboriginal woman. Milly Millimurra, Jimmy's sister, who has three children. Sam Millimurra, Milly's husband. . Joe Millimurra, Mary's love interest and Milly's eldest son. Cissie Millimurra, Milly's daughter. David Millimurra - Milly's youngest son. A. O. Neville, Chief Protector of Aborigines. Miss Dunn, his secretary. Mr Neal, Superintendent of

. Abuses Indigenous people and is lecherous to Indigenous girls. Matron Neal, his wife, Matron of the hospital. Sister Eileen, a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

. Sergeant Carrol, sergeant of the Northam Police. Constable Kerr, member of the Northam Police. Frank Brown, an unemployed farmer who befriends Jimmy Munday. Mary Dargurru, Joe's love interest. An outspoken girl who is mistreated by Neal, works for the Matron at the settlement. Billy Kimberley, a Black tracker, an Aborigine working for Mr Neal.

Kundavai Pirattiyar Kundhavai was a historic and a popular name of a number of royal women in southern India between the ninth and eleventh century. Some of the women who went by the name Kundavai are as follows: *Kundhavai, the daughter of Western Ganga king Prithv ...

, a princess from the

Chola Dynasty The Chola dynasty was a Tamils, Tamil thalassocratic Tamil Dynasties, empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated ...

who hears the story of the injustice given to both Munday and Millimurra‘s family and tries to stop the injustice being served. Bluey, a Black tracker. Topsy, Mary's subservient and submissive friend who also works for the Matron. Justice of the Peace, a farmer who sentences Frank Brown, Jimmy and Sam for alcohol abuse.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:No Sugar (Play) Plays by Jack Davis 1985 plays Indigenous Australian theatre Stolen Generations