No Sugar

Gran represents both the wisdom of age and the strongest link between the family and their native traditions. It is she who teaches the wisdom of the earth and insists that one can survive by learning to rely on the land. It isn’t that she is anti-modernity or anti-medicine. Rather, she understands that access to modern healthcare depends on the Aborigines’ relationship to white society, which can withhold medicine at any time. Gran experiences the most drastic physical change by the end of the play. Although she is strong and commands respect, it is as if the events of the story finally weigh her down and transform her into a symbol of the frailty that also comes with advanced age. 

Joe is a composite of all young Aboriginal men living during the depression. He has hopes and aspirations, but no clear paths to achieve them. The obstacles he faces are almost entirely out of his control. Joe’s presence in the play is understated at the beginning, but his relationship with Mary becomes the central focus in the final two acts. He is respectful and loyal to his family, which makes his treatment at the hands of the Protectorate all the more poignant and unjust. 

Mary works for Mr. Neal and the Matron. She falls in love with Joe, creating a situation where she must reveal her fears about Mr. Neal, who leers at her body and has plans to use her for his sexual desires. This makes it difficult for her to find a way to be with Joe, short of escaping to Northam. She refuses to be intimidated by Mr. Neal during her pregnancy. She is beaten badly for her defiance but emerges from her ordeal as a stronger person. 

Mr. Neal is the ultimate irony of No Sugar. He publicly serves as the protector of the Aboriginal people, all the while denigrating them, ignoring them, and mistreating them at every turn. He is the composite character standing in for all of white Australia’s relationship to the Aborigines during the time of occupation. 

Mrs. Neal is the long-suffering wife of Mr. Neal. She is responsible for the hospital at the settlement. She is empathetic to the Aborigines in a way that could not be more different from her husband. However, even though she treats the natives with more dignity and does not approve of many of her husband’s actions, it is telling that she is still limited in her ability to make substantial changes on behalf of the people in her settlements. 

Billy is an elderly Aboriginal “tracker.” A simple man of relatively low intelligence, he works for Mr. Neal but does not seem to see the conflict of interest in the situation. In fact, he proudly refers to himself as a policeman. It is his job to hunt down runaway Aborigines and to enforce discipline with his whip. Near the end of the play, he becomes friends with Joe and Mary , a sign that he may eventually realize the implications of his actions.