SOURCE: Nunn, Robert C. “Sharon Pollock's Plays: A Review Article.” Theatre History in Canada 5, no. 1 (spring 1984): 72-83.

In the following essay, Nunn appraises Pollock's plays published together in Blood Relations and Other Plays. Nunn concentrates on the oppressive forces that assault Pollock's characters, the decisions these characters make while under oppression, and the results the decisions have on the rest of their lives.

Sharon Pollock has been writing for the stage, radio and television for more than ten years. Although her television and radio plays are not readily accessible, a survey of those of her stage plays which are available (and two of her radio plays) reveals a dramatist who has given her central theme, the effect of social issues and public myths on individual lives, a progressively richer treatment. In particular individual identity, taken for granted in her first plays, becomes in Blood Relations a mystery, explored...