This production of Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll marked the play’s 60th anniversary, and honoured the play as an integral part of the Australian canon. Brought to the Glen St Theatre by South Australia’s State Theatre Company, the production went for a realistic take on a classic work.
Olive is awaiting the arrival of her beau Roo and his buddy Barney, sugar cutters who stay at her Melbourne home each year during the cane season layover. After 16 years of endless summers and frivolity, Barney’s flame Nancy has moved on to marry another man, with Olive’s uptight workmate Pearl looking to take her place. Pearl isn’t looking for a party, however, but more of a man who can take care of her. As the summer drags on, Roo laments his temper causing him to walk off the job last season, and the memories of past parties fade into oblivion.
Set design by Pip Runciman gave the stage a contemporary feel with period furniture, almost as a dialogue between two eras – the one in which the play was set, and another that framed it. White transparent chiffon draped the setting, and with a large amount of dialogue spoken offstage, the audience could still see the characters beyond the curtain and watch their interactions. Benches on either side of stage housing actors waiting in the wings may have been a little too stylised as a device, but didn’t cause any distractions throughout.
The staging and direction was a little wooden, perhaps due to the large touring set placed into the small stage of the Glen St Theatre stilting the actors’ movements, and the stiffness did affect the overall flow of the play. The wordy script, full of old-world Australian slang, seemed cumbersome to many of the cast. Stylised scene transitions also bogged the play down further in some parts, pushing the drama a little too far.
Memorable performances came from Annabel Matheson as Bubba, Tim Overton as Roo’s young nemesis Dowd and Jacqy Phillips as Olive’s staunch live-in mother Leach, all of whom brought a lightness and lovable quality to their respective roles. However, for a play that’s been performed in countless productions, less earnest direction may have brought some freshness to the messages. As the characters learn to let go of the past and quit stoking the fire of their dwindling youth, there could be a lesson here for theatremakers also.
2.5/5 stars
Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll played at Glen St Theatre until Sunday May 24.
