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 …

…perhaps, it is Tom who begins and ends the play - first as the impish Puck and, finally, as the doomed Lear. Away, then, is a deceptively simple play. 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. At times irritating and trite, at other times moving, the play offers a number of worthwhile avenues for readers to explore.