Summer of the Seventeenth Doll

An play by Ray Lawler. First performed at the Union Theatre in Melbourne, Australia, on 28 November 1955, it is almost unanimously considered by scholars of literature to be the most historically significant play in Australian theatre history, openly and authentically portraying distinctly Australian life and characters. The play is part of a trilogy generally referred to as the Doll Trilogy; the story of The Doll is preceded by the prequels Kid Stakes (1975), set in 1937, which tells the story of the first year of the tradition and the origin of the gift of the kewpie doll, and Other Times (1976), which is set in 1945 and includes most of the same characters.

First presented in South Africa in 1958 by NTO, Bill Brewer, Marjorie Gordon, Edward Ogden. With décor by Frank Graves, c ostumes by Doreen Graves. Later changes: Fiona Fraser, Joan Blake, Jane Fenn, Elspeth Bryce, Nigel Hawthorne, Eveline Garratt, Robert Cheetham.