Stolen

Stolen is a play by Australian playwright Jane Harrison. It is based upon the lives of five indigenous people who dealt with the issues for forceful removal by the Australian government.

Stolen tells the story of five Aboriginal children, who go by the names of Sandy, Ruby, Jimmy, Anne, and Shirley.

Sandy has spent his entire life on the run, never having a set home to live in. Stolen tracks his quest for a place to be, a place where he doesn’t have keep hiding from the government (even though they are no longer after him), and a place he can call home.

Ruby was forced to work as a domestic from a young age, and was driven insane by the abuse of her white masters. In the latter part of the play, she spends a lot of her time mumbling to herself, whilst her family desperately try to help her.

Jimmy was separated from his mother at a very young age, and she spent her entire life looking for him. He spent a lot of time in prison, and on the day he finally got out, he was told about his mother’s search. As he went to meet her, she died, and he committed suicide in anger. Jimmy thought his mother was dead because everytime she writes him a letter the nuns take it and put it in the cabinet.

Anne was removed from her family and placed in a Caucasian family’s home. She was materially happy in this home, a lot happier than many of the other characters, but when her indigenous family tried to meet her, she was caught in crossfire between her two “families”.

Shirley was removed from her parents, and had her children removed from her. She only felt relief, safety, and comfort when her granddaughter was born, and not removed.

Stolen toured extensively throughout Australia. On top of its seven years in Melbourne (starting in 1998), it was also performed in Sydney, Adelaide, regional Victoria, Tasmania, the UK, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. Furthermore, readings were performed in Canada and New York.

Stolen won (along with Aliwa! by Dallas Wimmar) the Kate Challis RAKA award in 1998, on the back of largely successful first season[2][3]

Stolen was studied on the Victorian Certificate of Education English syllabus, and the New South Wales Higher School Certificate syllabus. Many other schools throughout Australia have also placed Stolen on their English curriculum