Review by Freya Rowell
Marginalised Voices Are Put First in Saplings
Australian Theatre for Young People
The Q – Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre
Saplings, written by Yuwaalaray woman Hannah Belanszky, lies in a theatrical space between a short story anthology and a documentary. Devised through workshops with young people with experience in the youth justice system, this play follows the stories of several young people as they manage friendship, poverty, grief and bureaucracy. Presented by the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP), and directed by Kalkadoon director Abbie-lee Lewis, the play first premiered in 2024, winning Best Production for Young People at the Sydney Theatre Awards, and is now touring Australia with a new cast.
Both the play’s greatest strengths and weaknesses come from its vignette style. The many scenes allow for the portrayal of many perspectives. Two teens bemoan the hours of waiting in court, a young man breaks house arrest to buy instant noodles, and another grapples with losing the friends he has made when he is unexpectedly released from detention. The monologues in particular create fictionalised but grounded insights into the multitude of experiences young people have in the justice system. However, due to the constantly changing scenes, the audience only gets to know each character for 5-10 minutes, making it difficult for viewers to form a connection with the characters and risking a lack of emotional impact.
Despite the grim subject matter the play is full of humour. This works well to humanise its subjects, and demonstrates that, despite their harsh circumstances, they joke and banter like any other teenagers. Yet there are of course sadder takeaways. A depressing similarity between many of the stories is that these young people are woefully familiar with the processes of the system, but too often undereducated about their rights in said system.
One highlight is the soundtrack, which consists of rap and hip hop songs made by young people involved with the justice system. One such song states “I’m screaming fuck the haters and the system that has made us, everybody quick to judge but nobody’s here to save us.” In this vein, by giving a voice to young people that are often reduced to stereotypes or statistics, Saplings asks us to put our judgement aside and listen to this important and vulnerable community.
