Sydney Theatre Company presents
A Sydney Theatre Company and Malthouse Theatre Production
AWAY
By Michael Gow

“We’re going to drive for a bit. See what we find.”

Christmas, 1967, and three families are about to go on their summer holidays by the beach. The end-of-year school play is a success and young love is lighting up the dressing room. But ’tis not the season to be jolly.

Michael Gow’s Away premiered in Sydney 30 years ago, winning the NSW Premier’s Literary Award and quickly establishing itself as a modern classic. At the story’s heart are three mothers – each dealing with loss and loneliness in their own particular way. Their personal tragedies and small victories play out in front of a snapshot of Australian history, with the Vietnam War and the social upheavals of the 1960s providing a complex backdrop. In director Matthew Lutton’s new vision for the play, we see events unfold through the eyes of Tom, an aspiring actor facing the hard reality of his own impending curtain call.

Throughout, Away delights in the full range of theatrical expression – from the smallest intimacy to the most epic of storms. This co-production with Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre brings together some of the country’s most admired stage performers, including Heather Mitchell (Hay Fever), Glenn Hazeldine (Disgraced) and Liam Nunan (The Golden Age) for this return of a great Australian play.

"Truthful, fantastical, satirical and deeply touching...Away is inspiring."
The Sydney Morning Herald