The enthusiasm that greeted the appearance of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (published, 1957) at the Melbourne Union Theatre in 1955 had a familiar ring to it; the Australian theater was occasionally inclined to hail the arrival of the major work that most commentators agreed that it lacked. But this time proved to be different. The status of the play was confirmed by an international tour and by the critical response it received. When The London Star (1 May 1957) pronounced that "It's taken a long time but the kangaroos must be smiling today," it was hardly exaggerating at all.

For Ray Lawler, the relatively unknown Melbourne actor who had written the play, the success of "The Doll" established a career and a status that would last for the rest of his life. But in another sense, the mythic scale of that success was a mixed blessing, placing on his subsequent work...