The Doll Trilogy: Part 1 – Kid Stakes

Set in Depression-era Carlton in 1937, Kid Stakes captures the optimism of a nation on the cusp of change and kicks off the 17-year journey of Roo, Barney, Olive, and Nancy. Queensland cane croppers Roo and Barney spend their off-season in Melbourne, where they meet Olive and Nancy, two young women on the brink of adulthood. A summer ritual begins with Roo’s gift of a kewpie doll, as Bubba watches and Emma offers her wry wisdom.

Lauded as a defining monument of 20th-century Australian theatre, Ray Lawler’s The Doll Trilogy charts the transformation of a nation through the intimate lives of Roo, Barney, Olive, Nancy, and those around them.

Lawler’s masterful writing brings working-class Melbourne to life with warmth, humour, and sensitivity, beautifully realised by Red Stitch. From the playful romance of Kid Stakes in 1937, through the war-shadowed years of Other Times, to the shattering finale of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll in 1953, these characters embody idealism, disappointment, and resilience against the backdrop of a rapidly changing Australia.