This act is the emotional core of the play. The PDF text reveals the horrifying bureaucracy of the settlement. Joe (a half-caste tracker) works for the white boss, Mr. Neal. The Aboriginal residents are forced into manual labor. When Jimmy attempts to escape to find work, he is caught, chained, and flogged. This is where Davis uses stark stage imagery—the chains are not metaphorical.
The "no sugar" of the title is a deprivation. But by reading the play, you restore something to the Millimurras: an audience. And to the student, the scholar, or the curious reader, the PDF offers a portable, searchable key to understanding how theatre can fight a genocide of culture. jack davis no sugar pdf
The Millimurra-Munday family is forced to leave their camp on the outskirts of Northam. They are relocated to the Moore River Native Settlement (a real, horrific institution). In the PDF version of the play, Davis includes detailed stage directions that describe the squalor of these settlements—buildings designed to be prisons rather than homes. This act is the emotional core of the play
The family is eventually released back to Northam, but the situation is worse. The “work” is slavery in all but name. Jimmy tries to get a "dog license" (a pass allowing him to leave the reserve). His request for sugar is denied. Meanwhile, the white families in town are celebrating Empire Day, a grotesque irony that Davis highlights through song. This is where Davis uses stark stage imagery—the
Introduction: Why No Sugar Still Matters In the canon of Australian literature, few works strike with the raw, unflinching power of Jack Davis’s No Sugar . Written in 1985, this seminal four-act play remains a cornerstone of Indigenous Australian theatre. It is not just a historical document; it is a searing indictment of the Western Australian government’s policies toward Aboriginal people during the Great Depression of the 1930s.