Away - Play
Michael Gow's Away is a slender, uncomplicated play, the kind of text that is sometimes dismissed by VCE teachers as being too "easy" for their students. And yet, paradoxically, Away is quite difficult to write about. The "plot" is unashamedly slight; the characters are sparsely drawn and not always likeable; the language is economical rather than memorably lyrical; and there are few issues of substance to debate. Where it arguably does shine is in Gow's unremitting and systematic dismantling of the petty deceptions and deceits that make daily living bearable for the characters. Once these emotional props are exposed, for what they are, newly vulnerable individuals are forced to confront unwelcome truths about themselves. Ostensibly about three families setting out on their respective summer holidays, Away hones in fearlessly on the disconcerting aspects of their private lives. As the play progresses, we gradually become aware of the motivations and concerns that underpin their actions. We see how fraught and tenuous are the relationships between family members. We see what significance "going away" has for each individual, and how inextricably the rituals of holidaying are linked to both self-preservation and the desire t
If, for Ron, going away is a means of denying the past, for Coral it represents yet another constraint upon her right to mourn. Fittingly, perhaps, it is Tom who begins and ends the play - first as the impish Puck and, finally, as the doomed Lear. Like Coral, she can now move on in her life. At times irritating and trite, at other times moving, the play offers a number of worthwhile avenues for readers to explore. Underpinning its straightforward language, sparse characterisation and minimalist writing is a sharply observant eye and a skilful rendering of the frailties that characterise human interaction. The Australia of the 1960s, despite the unsettling and diverse cultural changes taking place, still clings to the comfortable and waspish middle-class expectations of the 1950s. For the first time in the play she appears chastened and ashamed. Would Tom have propositioned Meg if his parents and various medical personnel had treated him from the beginning as an adult with a right to know his own fate? His pitiful attempts at seduction stem not from any lustful nocturnal imaginings, but from sheer fright. Through his dramatic play on amateur night, Tom demonstrates in a dignified way the importance of courage and honesty in relationships. Being "normal" in this instance means picking up the pieces and getting on with life after tragedy has struck; it means no longer "weeping and wailing and carrying on and beating your breast". It is one of the strengths of the play that Away can challenge contemporary attitudes towards the mentally ill without being obviously didactic. Regeneration thus becomes possible through a denial of the very ritual that Ron relies on for reassurance. For Jim, too, life is an endless struggle to ensure that his wife, Gwen, a woman adept at making the lives of those around her utterly miserable, is not upset. Away, then, is a deceptively simple play.
Common topics in this essay:
Michael Gow's,
Looking Gods,
Neither Paul,
Jim Gwen,
Dream Gwen,
Fittingly Tom,
Gold Coast,
King Lear,
Harry Vic,
Ron I'll,
forced confront,
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Acceptance Essays
