Valley Artists

Date: 20-Apr-07
Author: Valley Artists

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll Directed by Bob Philippe

Each summer Roo and Barney escape south, back from 7 months of backbreaking work in the Queensland cane fields to 'lay off' in Melbourne for five months with Olive and Nancy. On the first summer Roo brought Olive, among other gifts, a cupie doll. She loved it and he's brought her one each summer ever since.This is the summer of the seventeenth doll.

No play has been more important to the history of Australian theatre than Ray Lawler's Summer of the Seventeenth Doll.

When it first hit the stage in 1955 it drew an immediate unanimous response from audiences unused to seeing the Australian character so vividly and lovingly presented. Today Lawler's brawny Queensland canecutters and their longstanding seasonal romance with two Melbourne barmaids are part of the Australian legend.

President's Message

2007 sees Valley Artists entering its tenth year of productions.

Valley Artists has become a household word in the area and people have come to expect only quality entertainment from us.We have produced an eclectic mix of comedies, dramas and pantomimes from the classic to the contemporary and have written a few of them ourselves.This is an amazing achievement for a non-profit organization whose members receive no payment for their efforts.

So many people from our community, both adults and children, have worked and trained with Valley Artists over the years.

The success of Valley Artists is, also in no small part, due to the generous contributions made to the company by our sponsors.

In fact without the sponsors,Valley Artist's freedom of expression and quality of productions would be severely hampered, if not impossible to maintain in the long term.

Recently I have been elected to the position of President of the company and I am pleased to follow the tradition set by past presidents Tim Williams, Janine Oliver and Alan Glover in encouraging and welcoming new sponsors.

Each year, apart from our two major productions and the Short Film Festival,Valley Artists hosts a Sponsors Night.Those of you who have attended any of these over the years will attest to the popularity of the nights and that they are always entertaining and often outrageously good fun!

We conduct the Sponsors Nights once a year because Valley Artists feels strongly that our sponsors share with us the belief that a community that fosters a lively artistic expression is a healthy community and we want to thank them for helping us to do just that.

This years Sponsors Night will celebrate our first decade of achievements. Please join us as a sponsor for your ticket to the future of Valley Artists.

Bob Philippe,
President,Valley Artists

The Complete and Utter History of Valley Artists (so far)

This year's Sponsors' Night promises to be something special. We will be celebrating 10 years as a theatre company and reckon we've got a fair bit to be proud of. Our sponsors have been an integral part of our success and together we look forward to a Retrospective highlighting favourite moments from past productions. Note this date in your diary - July 14th, 2007.

Detailed invitations will follow.

DVDs of 'The Wind in the Willows" are available for just $10 from Laguna Store.

SPONSORSHIPS ARE NOW DUE!

Please provide your business and/or personal details as appropriate and forward with payment to: Valley Artists inc. C/- Laguna Store, Laguna NSW 2325