Saplings - Art Centre Melbourne at The Show Room

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?

After premiering at The Rebel Theatre for the Sydney Festival in 2024 and winning Sydney Theatre Award’s Best Production for Young People, Yuwaalaray playwright Hannah Belanszky and Kalkadoon director Abbie-lee Lewis brings Saplings to the stage once again. This collection of hilarious and heartbreaking stories born from workshops with incarcerated young people 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. Expect for a night of laughter, tears and celebration of the survival instincts of young people.

Winner of Best Production for Young People at the 2024 Sydney Theatre Awards.