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Production Details
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Produced by the Melbourne Theatre Co., Russell Street Theatre, Melbourne, 12 February 1977.
Contents
- The Plays on the Stage, single work criticism (p. xiii-xx)
- The Plays on the Stage, single work criticism (p. vii-xiii)
Includes
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1y Kid Stakes Sydney : Currency Press , 1987 Z1239535 1975 single work drama
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2y Other Times 1970-1979 Z513399 1970-1979 single work drama
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3y Summer of the Seventeenth Doll London Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1957 Z522838 1955 single work drama (taught in 56 units)
'The most famous Australian play and one of the best loved, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is a tragicomic story of Roo and Barney, two Queensland sugar-cane cutters who go to Melbourne every year during the 'layoff' to live it up with their barmaid girl friends. The title refers to kewpie dolls, tawdry fairground souvenirs, that they brings as gifts and come, in some readings of the play, to represent adolescent dreams in which the characters seem to be permanently trapped. The play tells the story in traditional well-made, realistic form, with effective curtains and an obligatory scene. Its principal appeal – and that of two later plays with which it forms The Doll Trilogy – is the freshness and emotional warmth, even sentimentality, with which it deals with simple virtues of innocence and youthful energy that lie at the heart of the Australian bush legend.
'Ray Lawler’s play confronts that legend with the harsh new reality of modern urban Australia. The 17th year of the canecutters’ arrangement is different. There has been a fight on the canefields and Roo, the tough, heroic, bushman, has arrived with his ego battered and without money. Barney’s girl friend Nancy has left to get married and is replaced by Pearl, who is suspicious of the whole set-up and hopes to trap Barney into marriage. The play charts the inevitable failure of the dream of the layoff, the end of the men’s supremacy as bush heroes and, most poignantly, the betrayal of the idealistic self-sacrifice made by Roo’s girl friend Olive – the most interesting character – to keep the whole thing going. The city emerges victorious, but the emotional tone of the play vindicates the fallen bushman.'
Source: McCallum, John. 'Summer of the Seventeenth Doll.' Companion to Theatre in Australia. Ed. Philip Parson and Victoria Chance. Sydney: Currency Press , 1997: 564-656.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording.
Works about this Work
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The Doll Revisited : A Truer Realisation
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Summer of the Seventeenth Doll 2012; (p. vii-xii)Ray Lawler explains the circumstances in which he decided to create the Doll Trilogy. He also provides background information on canecutting, boarding houses and kewpie dolls.
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Lawler's Demythologizing of the Doll : Kid Stakes and Other Times
1986
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , May vol. 12 no. 3 1986; (p. 335-346) -
The Plays on the Stage
1985
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Doll Trilogy 1985; (p. xiii-xx) The Doll Trilogy 2001; (p. vii-xiii) -
Ovation for The Doll Trilogy
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 29 April 1985; (p. 12) A Leader of His Craft : Theatre Reviews by H. G. Kippax 2004; (p. 277-278)
— Review of The Doll Trilogy 1977 series - author drama -
Untitled
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: The National Times , 3-9 May 1985; (p. 34)
— Review of The Doll Trilogy 1977 series - author drama
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Ovation for The Doll Trilogy
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 29 April 1985; (p. 12) A Leader of His Craft : Theatre Reviews by H. G. Kippax 2004; (p. 277-278)
— Review of The Doll Trilogy 1977 series - author drama -
Untitled
1979
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 17 March 1979; (p. 23)
— Review of The Doll Trilogy 1977 series - author drama -
Untitled
1979
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian Magazine , 10-11 February 1979; (p. 8)
— Review of The Doll Trilogy 1977 series - author drama -
Untitled
1979
single work
review
— Appears in: Theatre Australia , vol. 3 no. 9 1979; (p. 49)
— Review of The Doll Trilogy 1977 series - author drama -
[Review] The Doll Trilogy [and] Big Toys
1979
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 5 May 1979; (p. 17)
— Review of The Doll Trilogy 1977 series - author drama ; Big Toys 1977 single work drama -
Ray Lawler
1979
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: After 'The Doll' : Australian Drama Since 1955 1979; (p. 19-33) -
Successes From Sydney : Victoria
1978
single work
column
— Appears in: Theatre Australia , February vol. 2 no. 8 1978; (p. 37-38) This column discusses theatre productions in Victoria in 1977. -
Growing Up in Australia
1978
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Summer of the Seventeenth Doll 1978; (p. ix-xxii) -
Exploring Life after the Doll
1984
single work
column
biography
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 14-15 July 1984; (p. 17) -
Lawler's Demythologizing of the Doll : Kid Stakes and Other Times
1986
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , May vol. 12 no. 3 1986; (p. 335-346)
- Melbourne, Victoria,
- 1930s
- 1940s
- 1950s