The play explores the marginalisation of Aboriginal Australians in the 1920s and 1930s in Australia under the jurisdiction of a white government. The pivotal themes in the play include racism, white empowerment and superiority, Aboriginal disempowerment, the materialistic values held by the white Australians, Aboriginal dependency on their colonisers, and the value of family held by Aboriginal people.
The play utilises the perambulant model, which is a technique used in drama to dislocate the audience involving multiple points of focus. Throughout No Sugar it is employed to convey a sense of displacement to the audience, representative of the isolation felt by the Aboriginal people unable and unwilling to assimilate to white culture.
Characters
Jimmy Munday, the protagonist.
Gran Munday, Jimmy's mother, a traditional Aboriginal woman.
Milly Millimurra, Jimmy's sister, who has three children.
Sam Millimurra, Milly's husband. .
Joe Millimurra, Mary's love interest and Milly's eldest son.
Frank Brown, an unemployed farmer who befriends Jimmy Munday.
Mary Dargurru, Joe's love interest. An outspoken girl who is mistreated by Neal, works for the Matron at the settlement.
Billy Kimberley, a Black tracker, an Aborigine working for Mr Neal.
Kundavai Pirattiyar, a princess from the Chola Dynasty who hears the story of the injustice given to both Munday and Millimurra‘s family and tries to stop the injustice being served.
Bluey, a Black tracker.
Topsy, Mary's subservient and submissive friend who also works for the Matron.
Justice of the Peace, a farmer who sentences Frank Brown, Jimmy and Sam for alcohol abuse.
Notes
^[Jack Davis - No Sugar to be Australia's official contribution at Expo 86] Bulletin (Sydney, N.S.W.:1880) 22 April 1986, p.94
^[Jack Davis - play 'No Sugar' to open in Canada, details of play.] The West Australian, 1 May 1986, p.16
^"AusStage". www.ausstage.edu.au. Retrieved 17 July 2016.