Summer of the Seventeenth Doll

Every summer Roo and Barney have come down from their work in the Queensland canefields to the Carlton house they share with Olive and Nancy for an annual celebration of love and laughter. But this year Nancy has deserted the house to get married, and Pearl has taken her place… Ray Lawler’s brawny canecutters, and their long-standing seasonal romance with two Melbourne barmaids, are now part of Australian legend. Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is one of the pillars of our national theatre; with its première in 1955, it is said Australian playwriting came of age. In this new edition it’s clear The Doll still speaks to us today. Coming through in print and on stage as what it has been always—one of our works of literature most closely identified with the Australian character.