Ray Lawler, the playwright whose groundbreaking work Summer of the Seventeenth Doll revolutionised Australian theatre, has died in Melbourne after a short illness. He was 103.

Lawler’s contribution to the arts spans more than seven decades. His impact on the cultural landscape of Australia is immense. His works not only provided a voice for Australian identity on stage but also challenged and enriched the national theatre scene.

Director Neil Armfield, who directed a production of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll at Belvoir in 2011, wrote: “[Lawler’s] work has given generations of our finest actors such thrilling challenges, and audiences such pleasure that it is hard to imagine our theatre, our country without this beautiful man.”

Ray Lawler, 1921–2024. Photo © Bill McAuley (from the National Portrait Gallery collection).

Born in Footscray, Victoria, in 1921, Lawler grew up in a working-class family and left school at the age of 13 to help support his family, working in a variety of jobs, including as a foundry worker and a shoe salesman. However, his passion for theatre led...