Away

Michael Gow’s Away presents a dichotomous view of what Australia was like in 1967. On one level, it was a time when the nation was emblazoning its identity with glitzy Gold Coast hotel chains, end-of-year summer holidays at beautiful camping sites, and the monotony of suburbia. Beneath the shiny exterior, however, lay a stormy narrative of social upheaval, war and class discrimination.

Playing at the Malthouse Theatre till Wednesday, 28 May, Away follows three families and their attempts to find the joy in their lives. The act opens with a high school production of Twelfth Night and principal Roy (Glenn Hazeldine) greeting the audience. Meanwhile backstage, a teenage romance between Tom (Liam Nunan) and Meg (Naomi Rukavina) heats up, with Tom surprising Meg with a brooch – a thoughtful Christmas present and a better option than perfume, apparently. Any prospects of a future together are thwarted when their respective parents interrupt. Meg’s uppity mother, Gwen (Heather Mitchell), won’t have her daughter throw away a future she worked hard for, only to end up with a working-class life, and shrieks at husband Jim (Marco Chiappi) to get ready for their holiday.

The holiday season is less than jolly for any of the families, despite attempts to make it work. A spectacular disagreement ensues when Meg calls Gwen out on her unreasonable and harsh treatment of the family while in the sunny Gold Coast, Roy’s wife Coral (Natasha Herbert), consumed with grief over losing her son to the Vietnam War, finds comfort in a young man – a newlywed who questions his direction in life – further straining their marriage. But when the three families are reunited, their lives are changed forever, and they work at building a more harmonious future.