Summer of the Seventeenth Doll app for iPhone and iPad

This ground-breaking app offers a curated experience around the play text of Ray Lawlers classic Australian play, allowing users to explore the piece from a variety of perspectives.

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll: the play

Ray Lawlers revised script (2012) of Australias most famous play, in which two larrikin canecutters and their women awaken to middle-age. The impact of The Doll cannot be overstated. Its success both here and abroad was quickly recognised as a defining moment in Australian theatre history.

The Doll iPad app features:

1. 145 audio grabs, embedded in the play script and elsewhere throughout the app, offering a guided tour through the play - on stage and behind the scenes. These grabs are drawn from interviews with:

- Ray Lawler, who takes you on a guided tour of the play.
- Neil Armfield AO, who discusses his approach to directing the play as well as its significance in Australian history.
- Sandy Gore on playing Pearl in the 1977 Melbourne Theatre Company production.
- Bruce Myles on playing Barney in the 1977 Melbourne Theatre Company production.
- Steve Le Marquand on playing Roo in the 2011/12 tour of the play through the eastern states of Australia.
- John McCallum on the sociocultural significance of the play as well as the narratives resonance in the Australian collective psyche.
- Travis McMahon on playing Barney in the 2011/12 tour of the play through the eastern states of Australia.
- Susie Porter on playing Olive in the 2011 Belvoir production.

2. Detailed character analyses, drawn from the interviews listed above.
3. Ray Lawler talks to Alison Croggon in a brand new 20 minute interview, charting the plays history, from its genesis to present day.
4. Behind the scenes insights into key productions, from some of those who were involved in bringing the play to life on stage.
5. 218 photos, programmes, letters and design sketches from major institutions around Australia, hand-picked by Currency Press, building a pictorial timeline of the plays history.
6. A range of articles on the plays social, historical and theatrical significance from five respected thinkers:

- An Introduction to The Doll by Jenny Nicholls & John McCallum (2012).
- The Intimate Life of The Doll by Leslie Rees (1973).
- Growing up in Australia by Katharine Brisbane (1978).
- Is it a boy or is it a girl? Gendering the Seventeenth Doll by Kerryn Goldsworthy (1995).
- All Grown Up and Finally Unfinished by Alison Croggon (2012).

The play text:

1. Fully searchable, with an in-built dictionary.
2. Annotate the play text; all your annotations are stored in one place - ordered chronologically and easily shared by email.

Awards:

2014

1. Australian Interactive Media Industry Association Awards: Best of Tablet, Learning and Education

2013

1. Australian Publishers Association: Best Digital Media Teaching Resource
2. Drama Victoria: Best Australian Multimedia Presentation specifically designed for Drama and Theatre Education