The Weekend of The Dolls

From June 18–21, Her Majesty’s Theatre Ballarat hosted Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre’s production of Ray Lawler’s The Doll Trilogy, a rare opportunity to see the three connected works staged together. But what emerged over those four nights wasn’t just a season of performances. The building itself seemed to settle into a different rhythm, with audiences arriving early, staying later, and moving between spaces in a way that felt more special than a standard night out.

At the centre of it was Lawler’s trilogy: Kid Stakes, Other Times, and Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. Seen together, the plays trace the evolution of a seasonal ritual between two Queensland cane cutters and the Melbourne women they visit each year, a tradition that begins with energy and promise, and gradually begins to strain under the weight of time.

What’s striking, when experienced in sequence, is how gently that shift happens. Kid Stakes carries a sense of openness, relationships forming, identities still flexible, the future not yet fixed. In Other Times, there’s already a sense of accumulation, as choices begin to settle into something more permanent. By the time Summer of the Seventeenth Doll closes the trilogy, that earlier vitality has thinned, and the characters are left negotiating what remains.

Red Stitch’s approach didn’t overstate any of this. The performances from every single member of the ensemble were direct and unforced, allowing the writing to shine. The humour landed easily, but so did the quieter moments, the small hesitations, the changes in tone that signal something slipping out of reach. Rather than treating the plays as historical artefacts, the production let them sit in the present, where their emotional logic still feels recognisable.

Around the performances, the rest of the building took on a similar tone. Upstairs in The Long Room, people gathered before and between shows, and the pace was deliberately slower. ARIA-nominated composer, arranger, and musician Sam Boon played songs from bygone eras throughout the season on Dame Nellie Melba’s Concert Grand piano, to the delight of all.

What lingers after The Doll Trilogy is its recognition of change, the way time quietly reshapes traditions, relationships and identities, whether we’re ready for it or not.

For one weekend in June, those themes played out not just on stage, but across an entire venue. And in doing so, Her Majesty’s Theatre Ballarat didn’t simply host a production — it became the centre of a new story.

The Doll Trilogy is just one part of a wider program of performances to unfold in 2026. These shows are truly something else, from interactive, sculptural works built right onto the stage to shows that are unique in both concept and execution, we have curated works to surprise and inspire.