Saplings

By Hannah Belanszky
 
“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?
 
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 to Darwin Saplings, a collection of hilarious and heartbreaking stories born from workshops with young people experiencing the youth justice system from Marrickville to Moree. 
 
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 for a night of laughter, tears and celebration of the survival instincts of young people.