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

Comments

It started with a happy bus driver....

It started with a happy bus driver singing along to the radio. Then followed a fruitless search to find a theatre. Just between you and me l am useless at reading maps and have a lousy sense of direction. So then l gave up and walked towards the library to see the 2 authors in conversation. Phillipa Kaye and Jodi Gibson are in the photo below. What an interesting talk. Both authors have books out currently. Phillipa Kaye's book is Girl Detectives Just Wanna Have Fun: A Birdie Mealing Mystery. Phillipa is standing on the left. Jodi Gibson's book is called Reinventing Emily Brown. Jodi is standing on the right. They asked each other questions about their books and took questions from the audience. They went through the process of writing, editing and publishing. I think it's always interesting to hear the creative process that goes into writing a book. I haven't read either book but l am tempted by the mystery book. Jodi Gibson, in her own words, writes female feel goo

Robert Galbraith

I don't think that l'm letting a secret out when l tell you that Robert Galbraith is the pseudonym for J.k Rowling. These are crime novels, very good crime novels. Having never read the Harry Potter novels l had no idea what her writing style would be like. She's a very good writer. The crimes themselves are well thought out. The structure of each novel flows and the use of language is another stand out. The characters are believable and this is another bonus as we. the readers, are shown their development as the books progress. I have read all five and will definitely be reading number 6. Robert Galbraith 5 out of 5.

Catch me if you can

The doors opened and in they came, and kept on coming. A full house, happy and cheerful crowd. Welcome to a PLOS show. This musical, l am told, is based on a film which was based on a book. I had not read the book or seen the film so it was all new to me. The story is based in the 1960's and l think the set was designed to look like a 60's variety show. The orchestra was on 2 levels and it's a real treat to have a live orchestra playing. What a triumph for PLOS. The constant high standard of their shows means l will see everything they stage. A real stand out is the singing. Everyone sang so well and this happens with every show. There was a lot of dancing and costume changes. Everyone played their part well with all of them having American accents. The best performance was by Aidan Niarros as Carl Hanratty. He is a Primary School Teacher by day, but what a performance. Jordan Poyser as Frank Abagnale Jr was very good too as was Peter Noble Frank Snr. Emillie Toby as Bren

Emily Cat 176

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