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y separately published work icon Summer of the Aliens single work   drama   - Three acts
Adaptation of Summer of the Aliens Louis Nowra , 1990 single work radio play
Issue Details: First known date: 1992... 1992 Summer of the Aliens
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'It is 1962 and the world is worried about the Cuban missile crisis, except for Lewis, a youth on the cusp of manhood, growing up in a Melbourne housing commission suburb. He is preoccupied by flying saucer, much to the disgust of his friend Brian who can think only of losing his virginity. Lewis finds a natural soulmate in local tom-boy, Dulcie, who has her own confusions about approaching womanhood. And then out of nowhere Lewis's errant father returns to stay, as if he had never gone' (Currency Press).

Although the play largely focuses on adolescent issues, it is meant for an adult audience. Among the themes explored are sexuality, gender, prejudice, cultural identity and the relationship between memory and personal identity.

Production Details

  • First produced by the Melbourne Theatre Co., Russell Street Theatre, Melbourne, 17 March 1992.


    Presented by Griffin Theatre Company, 9 February - 21 April 2024.

    Director: Declan Greene.

    Associate Director: Daley Rangi.

    Set Designer: Jeremy Allen.

    Costume Designer: Melanie Liertz.

    Lighting Designer: Kelsey Lee.

    Composer & Sound Designer: Daniel Herten.

    Consultant, Disability: Christopher Bryant.

    Consultant, Inclusion: Bayley Turner.

    Cast: Thomas Campbell, Paul Capsis, Philip Lynch, and Nikki Viveca.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1992
    • Paddington, Kings Cross area, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,: Currency Press , 1992 .
      Extent: 84p.
      Description: illus.
      Note/s:
      • Introduced by Louis Nowra.
      ISBN: 0868193259 (pbk.)
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Lewis Trilogy Louis Nowra , Strawberry Hills : Currency Press , 2018 15863021 2018 selected work drama

    'Spanning five decades from 1962 to 2017, The Lewis Trilogy follows Louis Nowra's occasional hero, sometime narrator and perennial misfit, Lewis, as he struggles to find and understand his place in the changing world around him. In Summer of the Aliens, Lewis is a young man on the cusp of adulthood, growing up in a Melbourne housing commission. Set against the backdrop of the Cuban missile crisis, the play is a coming of age story about sex and family, alien invasions, and suburban tragedies played out behind closed doors. In Cosa?, Lewis is fresh out of university and directing Mozart's Cosa? fan tutte with the inmates of a mental institution. As anti Vietnam protests take place in the streets outside, Lewis finds himself stepping off the sidelines to become emotionally involved with his actors' lives. In This Much is True, Lewis is a writer 'between divorces' and temporarily adrift among the outsiders and dropouts of an inner city Sydney pub. Older, and possibly wiser, Lewis is once more drawn into a world of colourful characters, all of them searching for magic in the mundane. Lewis' constant search for connection plays out against the evolving hopes and battles of Australian society -' just like us, only more extraordinary.'  (Publication summary)

    Strawberry Hills : Currency Press , 2018

Other Formats

  • Also sound recording.

Works about this Work

Staging Otherness in Mainstream Australasian and Canadian Dramaturgies Marc Maufort , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Transgressive Itineraries : Postcolonial Hybridizations of Dramatic Realism 2003; (p. 27-79)
Section III of this chapter is entitled 'Alienating Naturalism : Louis Nowra's Dramatury'.
'Summer of the Seventeenth Doll' and 'Summer of the Aliens' : Arcadia, Dystopia and the Australian Ethos T. G. A. Nelson , 2002 single work criticism
— Appears in: 'Unemployed at Last!' : Essays on Australian Literature to 2002 for Julian Croft 2002; (p. 105-118)
Compares the representations of Australians and Australian life and ethos in Lawler's and Nowra's plays.
y separately published work icon The Theatre of Louis Nowra Veronica Kelly , Strawberry Hills : Currency Press , 1998 Z543914 1998 single work criticism
Screenplays for Radio: The Radio Drama of Louis Nowra John Hillel , 1997 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , April no. 30 1997; (p. 68-86)
Breaching the Body's Boundaries: Abjected Subject Positions in Postcolonial Drama Joanne Tompkins , 1997 single work criticism
— Appears in: Modern Drama , Winter vol. 40 no. 4 1997; (p. 502-513)
Quality Epic from a Town Called Excellent Giles Hugo , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Mercury , 11 April 1992; (p. 20)

— Review of Post Office Restaurant and Other Stories Barry Dickins , 1992 selected work short story ; Summer of the Aliens Louis Nowra , 1992 single work drama
From Boilermakers to Aliens - Varied Play Texts Appear Alexandra S. Cromwell , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 7 no. 1 1993; (p. 70-71)

— Review of Too Young for Ghosts Janis Balodis , 1985 single work drama ; Summer of the Aliens Louis Nowra , 1992 single work drama ; Dorothy Hewett : The Feminine as Subversion Margaret Williams , 1992 single work criticism ; Collected Plays : Volume I Dorothy Hewett , 1992 selected work drama ; Siren David Williamson , 1990 single work drama
[Review of Summer of the Aliens] Helen Thomson , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , October no. 23 1993; (p. 175-178)

— Review of Cosi Louis Nowra , 1992 single work musical theatre ; Summer of the Aliens Louis Nowra , 1992 single work drama
Space Invaders Penelope Nelson , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 9-10 May 1992; (p. rev 6)

— Review of Summer of the Aliens Louis Nowra , 1992 single work drama
Nowra's Well-Crafted Drama is a Treat to Watch Deborah Stone , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Jewish News , 27 March vol. 58 no. 29 1992; (p. 7)

— Review of Summer of the Aliens Louis Nowra , 1992 single work drama
'Summer of the Seventeenth Doll' and 'Summer of the Aliens' : Arcadia, Dystopia and the Australian Ethos T. G. A. Nelson , 2002 single work criticism
— Appears in: 'Unemployed at Last!' : Essays on Australian Literature to 2002 for Julian Croft 2002; (p. 105-118)
Compares the representations of Australians and Australian life and ethos in Lawler's and Nowra's plays.
Staging Otherness in Mainstream Australasian and Canadian Dramaturgies Marc Maufort , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Transgressive Itineraries : Postcolonial Hybridizations of Dramatic Realism 2003; (p. 27-79)
Section III of this chapter is entitled 'Alienating Naturalism : Louis Nowra's Dramatury'.
Nowra: Fact and Fiction Mike Daly , 1994 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 4 May 1994; (p. 33)
Adventure Seeker Pollyanna Sutton , 1992 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: The Age , 1 April 1992; (p. 3)
An Aimless Playwright Going Somewhere Fast Stephanie Bunbury , 1994 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Age , 3 May 1994; (p. 19)

Awards

1990 winner Prix Italia Drama Award Award for radio play.
Last amended 23 Oct 2023 15:56:45
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