4. Didactical Evaluation

"There can be no doubt that this play will be of interest to the education market. It is the most successful play so far to deal with these issues. It does so in an imaginative way. Being written from the children's point of view, it is able to make the complex and powerful issues highly approachable for secondary students. There may be some resistance, however, towards exposing younger secondary students and older primary students to the issues. The play is not overtly political, it does not preach, it is not dogmatic - it simply shows us how the children themselves experience their lot in life and how they attempt to make sense of it. The play would make excellent resource material for those tertiary students studying Australian History, Social and Cultural Studies".

(from: http://www.currency.com.au/newsite/plays.htm#Harrison. Printed by kind permission of Currency Press Australia.)

Indeed, Harrison´s play is neither dogmatic nor extremely passionate, but it simply helps us to overcome intolerance, clichés, prejudice, snobbery, and racial discrimination that are based on cultural ignorance and misunderstandings preventing people from living together peacefully and happily and without fear of the "other".

Meanwhile STOLEN is a prescribed text for the Higher School Certificate NSW (HSC Standard English 2003-2005) and for the Victoria Certificate of Education (VCE English 2003-2004).

 

Jane Harrison , Stolen