Summer of the Seventeenth Doll
Sat, 10 Feb 2001, 04:46 pmNorma2 posts in thread
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll
Sat, 10 Feb 2001, 04:46 pmA new presentation of the great Australian Classic, a great start to Melville Theatre Company's celebration of the centenary of Federation year of Australian plays .
A wonderfully strong cast of seven brought this play to vibrant life. It's unusual to be totally unable to single out one actorin a production, but on this occasion the whole cast is so strong and so totally believable that they all deserve equal praise.
From the first moment the audience is caught up in the life of Olive and Roo , as they prepare to celebrate the seventeenth year of the summer break from Roo's work as a Queensland cane-cutter. but this year things are different . You'll have to see for yourselves why. As the play proceeds the ending is inevitable but even tho I knew the story I reached for the tissues!
Lynn Colson & Rob Bolitho shine as the lovers and are well matched by Zorina Gavolovich & James Graham as Pearl & Barney, Helen Thornton as Emma , Laura Vallini & Luke Martindale as Bubba & Dowd.
Congratulations to directors Nicola Bond & Peter Kirkwood on a fine start to 2001 for Melville
If you haven't yet booked, get a ticket, it's on tomorrow, Sunday at 2 pm and Thursday/Friday/Saturday, Feb 15/16/17 at 8 pm.
Book with Yvonne on 9364-7648
Roy Edinger Theatre, Cnr Stock Rd/ Canning Highway, Palmyra
A wonderfully strong cast of seven brought this play to vibrant life. It's unusual to be totally unable to single out one actorin a production, but on this occasion the whole cast is so strong and so totally believable that they all deserve equal praise.
From the first moment the audience is caught up in the life of Olive and Roo , as they prepare to celebrate the seventeenth year of the summer break from Roo's work as a Queensland cane-cutter. but this year things are different . You'll have to see for yourselves why. As the play proceeds the ending is inevitable but even tho I knew the story I reached for the tissues!
Lynn Colson & Rob Bolitho shine as the lovers and are well matched by Zorina Gavolovich & James Graham as Pearl & Barney, Helen Thornton as Emma , Laura Vallini & Luke Martindale as Bubba & Dowd.
Congratulations to directors Nicola Bond & Peter Kirkwood on a fine start to 2001 for Melville
If you haven't yet booked, get a ticket, it's on tomorrow, Sunday at 2 pm and Thursday/Friday/Saturday, Feb 15/16/17 at 8 pm.
Book with Yvonne on 9364-7648
Roy Edinger Theatre, Cnr Stock Rd/ Canning Highway, Palmyra
RE: Summer of the Seventeenth Doll
Thu, 15 Feb 2001, 05:21 pmWalter Plinge
I saw the GRADS production of "Summer of the Seventeenth Doll" last year and was curious to see another group tackle this play. I'll admit once again that I'm not a big fan of the script, but I was intrigued after reading in the Melville newsletter about co-director Peter Kirkwood's mighty erections.
As with GRADS, I enjoyed the show. In fact, after now seeing two very good productions, I'm becoming more familiar with and warming to the script. It's a long play, but thanks to the quality grounding aquired from GRADS, combined with the strength of this production, I was really getting into the sad, sorry little story. You find yourself transfixed by these alien characters - almost like slowing down to look at a car crash - you never want anything like that to happen to you, but can't resist the urge to see what's happening next.
As Norma said, all the cast were strong, but once again the character of Emma, Olive's crotchety old mother, walks away with the show. After previous discussion about piano-playing on this site, the Melville cast tackled the problem well (if a little obviously). The fireworks lightshow was fun, but the accompanying sound effects didn't really work for me, sorry.
Melville have done a great job with their venue over the past couple of years and they are to be congratulated on that as well as on this fine production.
JB
As with GRADS, I enjoyed the show. In fact, after now seeing two very good productions, I'm becoming more familiar with and warming to the script. It's a long play, but thanks to the quality grounding aquired from GRADS, combined with the strength of this production, I was really getting into the sad, sorry little story. You find yourself transfixed by these alien characters - almost like slowing down to look at a car crash - you never want anything like that to happen to you, but can't resist the urge to see what's happening next.
As Norma said, all the cast were strong, but once again the character of Emma, Olive's crotchety old mother, walks away with the show. After previous discussion about piano-playing on this site, the Melville cast tackled the problem well (if a little obviously). The fireworks lightshow was fun, but the accompanying sound effects didn't really work for me, sorry.
Melville have done a great job with their venue over the past couple of years and they are to be congratulated on that as well as on this fine production.
JB