Luck of the Draw

Written as a response to the Howard Government’s refusal to offer an apology, Luck of the Draw is a hard-hitting play that deals with the tragic consequences of the forced removal of Indigenous children from their families. It focuses on the impact this policy had on both the parents who lost their children and the children who lost their identity. It confronts the issue of identity from the perspective of a fair-skinned woman, raised in a middle-class white family, who discovers she is Indigenous.

Luck of the Draw is based on Ned Manning’s experiences at the EORA Centre in Redfern in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It also draws on his own children’s experiences in being accepted as Indigenous on the strength of their heritage and identification rather than their skin colour.

‘A mesmerising piece of theatre.’ - The Australian