Summer of the Seventeenth Doll

 

It was my first visit to the Shirley Burke Theatre. This little theatre of 167 seats is in Parker Road, Parkdale, a suburb of  Melbourne.

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is an iconic Australian play set in the 1950s, as you can see by the stage settings.

The storyline revolves around 4 main characters. Roo and Barney are cane cutters who travel to Carlton for their off season where Pearl and Olive wait for them. The action revolves around that off season.

This was my first time seeing this play and l enjoyed it. The pacing was tight and the smaller theatre made the interaction between the players and audience all the more intimate. 

The main cast: Rebecca Howell (Pearl), Ruth Caro (Olive), Luke Stephens (Barney), Joe Petruzzi (Roo). Laura Gabriel (Emma), Claudia Hruschka (Bubba) and Adam Hetherington(Jonnie).

All the actors gave good performances especially Ruth Caro and Luke Stephens. The play is of a certain place and time and it was good to see an Australian story. This production is part of HIT Productions Australian voice Tours for 2022.

As the play is touring Australia it is worth seeing it. Thanks to HIT productions for staging it and Kingston Arts for hosting it.

HIT Productions - hitproductions.com.au

Kingston Arts - kingstonarts.com.au