Summer of the 17th doll

Lawler’s stage directions are quick to establish the importance of the “lay off” even before a word is spoken. With “little pattern or taste” evident in the furniture, the souvenirs and kewpie dolls are the “main decorative features.” These, by themselves represent the long-standing tradition between the characters, Olive, Roo and Barney

As the inevitable occurs and the tradition disintegrates through each of the Three Acts of the Lawler’s play, Kinnear’s moralist view of the lay off period removes the sadness from the destruction of such a extensive tradition. The clearing of the souvenirs and kewpie dolls at the beginning of Act Three is directed to give the room an “oddly deserted look” representing the destruction of the Olive’s vision of the lay off. The impact and importance of this scene, upon the audience, is lost through Kinnear’s stage play. The large and spacious setting of the room does not enable the clearing of Olive’s treasured souvenirs to have the same effect upon the audience as Lawler had intended. The audience, thus, do not view the destruction of the tradition with the same impact as in Lawler’s direction, representing Kinnear’s disapproval of the lay off period. Lawler’s depiction of Olive’s final breakdown, as Roo offers to marry her, represents the tragedy of the play, that in the path of time each of the characters is defenseless and that each of the characters must grow from their youths, which they have already lost. The lay off tradition, gradually diminished through Kinnear’s production, prevents the audience viewing the loss of Olive’s “five months of heaven” as a significant aspect to the play Similarly Barney and Roo appear to view the failure of the lay off as a chance to escape and thus leave the house, and the 17 years of their traditions without must hesitation. Kinnear’s stage production is directed with a lack of anticipation and similarly a subtle disapproval of the lay o

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