AustLit
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
A musical look back at the 1930s, Bon-bons and Roses for Dolly is set in the Crystal Palace movie theatre, now a left-over dream factory, where for almost all of her life Dolly has sought consolation from the world at the sleazy alter of Hollywood. Dolly's life has also seen her surrounded by several symbolic female figures: Mary Corker, the strong intellectual grandmother who represents emotional sterility; Dolly's mother, Maddy, the older victim-dreamer without province; and Ollie Pullett, described by Hewett in her 1979 Hecate article as both the 'indomitable survivor and the final apotheosis of lower middle class suburbia... the voice of commonsense gone berserk' ('Creating Heroines' p77). When Dolly's dream world finally crumbles she finds herself middle aged, searching desperately in the blackened mirror of the old suburban fleapit for the ghost of the girl she once was. The reality is too much for her and she shoots herself during a re-run of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
Production Details
-
First produced by the National Theatre Co, at The Playhouse, Perth, 4 October 1972. The music for this production was composed by John Williamson (q.v.). A revised version, with music by Mervyn Drake (q.v.), was produced at Sydney's Jane Street Theatre beginning 28 June 1973. Graeme Blundell (q.v.) also directed a production for Hoopla in 1978 (Playbox Theatre, Melbourne)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Recent Australian Women's Writing for the Stage
1998
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Our Australian Theatre in the 1990s 1998; (p. 104-116) Helen Thomson surveys Australian women's writing for the stage, from 1970 to the 1990s, illustrating the diversity of feminist concerns and the forms these take in performances. -
Dorothy's Reception in the Land of Oz: Hewett Among the Critics
1995
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Dorothy Hewett : Selected Critical Essays 1995; (p. 236-255) -
`Up in the Bio-Box': The Use of Hollywood Myth in Some Early Dorothy Hewett Plays
1995
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Dorothy Hewett : Selected Critical Essays 1995; (p. 217-235) -
`Dreams... Visions... Spells... Stoies': Representations and Identity in `Bon-Bons and Roses for Dolly'
1995
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Dorothy Hewett : Selected Critical Essays 1995; (p. 202-216) -
Seeking Woman : Dorothy Hewett's Shifting Genres
1995
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Dorothy Hewett : Selected Critical Essays 1995; (p. 147-162)
-
Presenting First, Middle and Last Picture Show
1973
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 30 June 1973; (p. 19) Creme de la Phlegm : Unforgettable Australian Reviews 2006; (p. 149-150)
— Review of Bon-Bons and Roses for Dolly 1972 single work musical theatre -
Plays of Hewett and Sherman
1976
single work
review
— Appears in: Theatre Australia , October-November vol. 1 no. 3 1976; (p. 56)
— Review of Melba 1974 single work drama ; This Old Man Comes Rolling Home 1967 single work drama ; Bon-Bons and Roses for Dolly 1972 single work musical theatre -
Review
1976
single work
review
— Appears in: Theatrescope , June no. 1 1976; (p. 16)
— Review of Bon-Bons and Roses for Dolly 1972 single work musical theatre -
A Soft Centre of Nostalgia
1973
single work
review
— Appears in: Nation Review , 20-26 July 1973; (p. 1243)
— Review of Bon-Bons and Roses for Dolly 1972 single work musical theatre -
Dorothy Hasn't Found the Land of Oz
1977
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian Magazine , 9-10 July 1977; (p. 9)
— Review of Bon-Bons and Roses for Dolly 1972 single work musical theatre -
Recent Australian Women's Writing for the Stage
1998
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Our Australian Theatre in the 1990s 1998; (p. 104-116) Helen Thomson surveys Australian women's writing for the stage, from 1970 to the 1990s, illustrating the diversity of feminist concerns and the forms these take in performances. -
Trouble in Toe Nail Land
1972
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Australian , 18 October 1972; (p. 9) -
'Me is Not a Stable Reality' : Dorothy Hewett
1994
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: 'Me is Not a Stable Reality' : Negotiations of Identity in the Poetry of Dorothy Auchterlonie, Rosemary Dobson, Dorothy Hewett and J.S. Harry 1994; (p. 189-245) -
Seeking Woman : Dorothy Hewett's Shifting Genres
1995
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Dorothy Hewett : Selected Critical Essays 1995; (p. 147-162) -
`Dreams... Visions... Spells... Stoies': Representations and Identity in `Bon-Bons and Roses for Dolly'
1995
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Dorothy Hewett : Selected Critical Essays 1995; (p. 202-216)
Awards
- 1974 joint winner AWGIE Awards — Stage Award
Last amended 24 Aug 2006 13:30:29
Settings:
- Melbourne, Victoria,
- Western Australia,
- 1890s
- 1930s
- 1970s
Export this record