How to make a classic

Why do some plays remain timeless while others quickly date?
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Elena Carapetis and Chris Pitman in STCSA’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. Photo by Shane Reid.

For every play considered a classic there are a dozen others gathering dust on the bookshelf, admired but dated. Ray Lawler’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is one play that’s definitely stood the test of time – it is perhaps the most canonical Australian classic of all – but why?

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts