‘Trailblazer’ Australian playwright Ray Lawler dies

The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll playwright Ray Lawler has been remembered by his industry in touching tributes.

Playwright Ray Lawler, best known for ‘Summer of the Seventeenth Doll', had died aged 103.

One of Australia’s most revered playwrights, Ray Lawler, whose best known work was Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, has died aged 103.

Lawler passed away in Melbourne on Wednesday after a brief illness.

The Melbourne Theatre Company paid tribute to Lawler on Instagram on Friday.

“We are saddened to hear of the passing of Ray Lawler, former Melbourne Theatre Company artistic director and trailblazer of Australian playwriting”.

“Lawler’s 1955 play Summer of the Seventeenth Doll was a turning point in Australian theatre history, and this legacy continues today, decades later, in the Company’s commitment to fostering new Australian writing. Our thoughts are with Ray’s family and friends, and the theatre community.”

An actor, director and playwright, Lawler’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll was first performed at Melbourne University’s Union Theatre in 1955. It was made into a film in 1959.

The Lawler studio in the Melbourne Theatre Company’s Southbank Theatre is named after him. He was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1980 and an Officer of the Australian Order (AO) in 2023.

Lawler is survived by his wife, Jacklyn Kelleher, three children, three grandchildren and two great grandchildren.