Seething with passion, disappointment and heartbreak the story of two North Queensland cane cutters, Barney and Roo, spending their annual, five-month summer layoff in Melbourne with two barmaids, Olive and Nancy is about ritual, change, mateship and fragility.
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll by Ray Lawler is a captivating drama brilliantly directed by Ian Mackellar and another success for Noosa Arts Theatre.
This 17th summer after 16 years, marked by the gift from Roo to Olive of a kewpie doll each year, things have changed. Nancy has married and Olive has lined up the moralistic widow Pearl to take her place.
A difficult work season for Roo and Barney has ramifications for the group as well as the young, innocent next door neighbour Bubba and young upstart work colleague Johnnie.
Each one of the four core characters must face questions about the kind of life they really want and whether there is something more desirable to be found by the breaking of old patterns.
When it was first staged in 1955 Summer of the Seventeenth Doll showed the country and the world how life in suburban Australia could be a gripping yarn without embellishment or sentimentality.
It was a benchmark for Australian drama and became an instant hit for the Union Theatre Repertory Company, touring Australia, the London West End and Broadway and catapulting playwright Ray Lawler to prominence.
Director Ian Mackellar has selected a very strong cast who all present as real people immersed in the relationships the play presents.
Alison Venning shines as Olive Leech, giving the role a vitality and energy; whilst the multiple award-winning Glen Miller gives a solid performance as cane cutter Roo Webber with a quietness and sensitivity that never belies his manliness. As Roo’s offsider Barney Ibbot, Tom Middleton is the perfect balance to Miller and likeable enough for the audience to tolerate his larrikinism.
Oriana Packman remains true to her role as the prim and proper Pearl Cunningham even as she becomes swept up in the goings on of the group. Margaret Courtney is very believable as the no-nonsense, all-knowing Emma Leech, Olive’s mum and landlady of the boarding house.
Tenai Quinn is perfect in the role of sweet, vivacious Bubba Ryan and Alex Cox is forceful as the adversarial Johnnie Dowd.
Every production is more than the actors, of course, and the behind the scenes creatives make for a powerful and seamless show.
In her other role as costume designer Margaret Courtney is spot on in delivering the fashion styles of post-war Australia, perfectly complemented with the hairstyles by Mickey Craddock, which convincingly complete the audience’s time transportation.
To see the set by Ian Mackellar and David Hill is to step back into a time where an upright piano was expected in the lounge alongside solid, wooden furniture, tablecloths were an essential item and in pre-television Australia no home was without a prominently-placed radio. The comfortable lounge room setting resonates with audiences and enhances the contrast with the conflict in the storyline.
The kewpie dolls, one delivered each year of their visit, are a kitsch addition to the room, striking the audience with an image that declares both the significance of the annual visit and its comparison to an otherwise mundane existence.
The warm pink set walls and cleverly concealed but luminous lighting are visual cues of the heat in the unfolding situation and the Australian summer.
This Summer of the Seventeenth Doll lets the audience feel they are living the action in a plot just as relevant today as it was in the 1950s, rather than just experiencing a stage show.
There’s no doubt that Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is masterfully written, full of intricacies and emotions and still stands as one of Australia’s most praise-worthy plays.
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll will be performed at Noosa Arts Theatre until 18 November with evening performances on 10, 16 and 17 at 7.30pm and matinees on 11, 12 and 18 at 2pm.
Book online at noosaartstheatre.org.au, phone 5449 9343 or at the theatre, 163 Weyba Road, Noosaville
