Kid Stakes
by Ray Lawler
Directed by Janine Francis
Season 18 February to 11 March 2023
Kid Stakes is Ray Lawler’s Summer of the first Doll was written in Ireland in 1974, in a mood of nostalgia for a time of innocence in Australia, of youthful joy which even the depression could not stifle. In a masterful act of recreation Lawler plants the seeds that come to harvest in Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, the fun-loving vitality of the two young cane cutters, Roo & Barney: the solemn fidelity of one pair of lovers and the lustful fun of the other. We see Olive’s childlike nature maturing into a single-minded dedication to her romantic dream and the tart tongued Emma make her first compromises. Best of all we meet the elusive Nancy, the lifeforce who in the 17th year has left an aching hole in the heart of the Carlton household. Nancy who in Kid Stakes is the cornerstone of the drama – young, witty, and worldly-wise enough to see in this first miraculous summer, that shutting out the world will finally lead to tragedy.
