Summer of the Seventeenth Doll

This production of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll completes Villanova’s Doll Trilogy which they began in 2013 with Kid Stakes and followed in 2014 with Other Times. We’re back in Melbourne in a Carlton terraced boarding house of the fifties. A time when there’s a nightly six-o-clock swill at the pub, where two-up is played in the back lanes, and there’s weekly community singing at the local Town Hall.

“You little trimmer”, “crook on me” and “had a blue” dot the vernacular of the man in the street, while his weekly outings are reserved for the Friday night Stadium fights and the races on Saturday. This is Lawler’s milieu and whilst that Australia has almost disappeared, his themes of youthful dreams disintegrating at middle-age, are pertinent no matter what age.

The familiar plot has two canecutters from up North coming to Melbourne each year for their five month layoff to booze and party with two barmaids, but by the seventeenth year the gloss has faded from the ritual. Leo Wockner’s production pushed all the right emotional buttons and proved why the play is a classic and still has contemporary currency.

Meagan Lawson as Olive brought depth to the character and a heartfelt pathos when her world was crumbling around her. It was the performance of the play. Almost matching her performance level was Gary Conwell as Barney, who played the joker and womaniser well, but also found honesty when he’s faced with the truth. Dom Tennison’s Roo had all the hallmarks of a proud man losing his virility, while Roo’s nemesis Johnnie Dowd was a perfect fit for Ben Staver ,who had the necessary bulk and abs for the role. Maria Thompson’s Emma was not earthy enough, whilst Liz Morris’ Pearl lacked style with nary a hint of ‘mutton-dressed-up-as-lamb’. Gabrielle Dallas was an innocent looking Bubba, but her projection was spotty.

Leo Bradley’s set design was terrific, a bit on the large side for a terrace house in Carlton, but the attention to detail in the dressing was impressive. Only blot on Wockner’s fine production was a soundtrack of folk songs which seemed totally out of place for these characters.

Peter Pinne         

READ THE FIRST PAGES OF THIS PLAY AND BUY IT HERE.