Away

La Boite Theatre is saying farewell to its 2021 season in style with the beloved Australian classic Away by Michael Gow. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone in our theatre community who doesn’t know and love this play. For the few uninitiated, it’s the story of three families whose summer holidays don’t go according to plan. It sounds simple, but of course there’s so much more to unravel in the subtext of this tragicomedy.

Many of us studied it during high school and deeply analysed its themes. What does it mean to be our authentic selves? In what ways do we adjust our behaviours to suit others, to appease them, or to fit in? How are we using our precious lives and what does it mean to really live life to the fullest? But wait, there’s more. The class divide, bigotry, how it feels to be young and awkward around your crush, the ways grief debilitates us, the wasteful horror of war, and the tragedy of people dying before their times. Even though Gow wrote the play in 1986 and set it at the end of 1967, these themes still hit with a gut-wrenching resonance in 2021. 

Yet this production of Away isn’t painful to endure. It’s downright hilarious and joyful and life affirming. That’s the great relief of the play. Yes, there are profoundly heartbreaking moments, but Away affords us the chance to laugh in the face of pain. Thankfully, the cast - under Daniel Evans’ direction - have dialled the comedic risk taking up to 11 without a hint of that comedy killing self-consciousness that plagues some performers. The acting is superb in the moments of light and shade.

In a way it’s unsurprising since the production has reached for the top shelf when casting. Christen O'Leary is transcendent as Coral. Bryan Probets delivers a masterclass in physical comedy as Roy. Emily Burton has perfect comic timing as Gwen, also showing the vulnerable, human side to a character who is usually so hard to like. Kevin Spink as Harry as has great stage presence and energy, taking fabulous risks that pay off. Reagan Mannix has outstanding physicality as Tom, particularly when scaling the walls of the Roundhouse as Puck.

The actors must also be commended for their dancing skills, which shine in Liesel Zink’s lively, imaginative choreography. Sarah Winter’s clever set design works so flexibly in the round. Winter has also delivered such a clear and wonderfully realised vision for the costume design. The colour of the clothing is so well considered. Ben Hughes provides superbly evocative lighting. He nails the golden hues of summer, the crackling reds and yellows of a beach bonfire, and the glittering excitement of a 60s dancefloor. All these visual elements combine to make the production look like an old polaroid picture.

Daniel Evans has done well to share the love around to the four banks of the audience with his direction. Evans has also done a great job getting the cast to let go of their inhibitions. This is creative work without delving into self-indulgent, histrionic, or over-directed territory. Even the slow-motion sections are cleverly directed so they don’t appear gimmicky.

It feels like the perfect time to bring this play back to La Boite. If memory serves, it last played La Boite in the late 90s at the old Hale Street Roundhouse. Decades later, nobody’s lives have been going to plan, there’s a stark class divide, and we’ve all faced more tragedy and death than we’re used to processing. Dark humour is so important, it’s practically a public service. If we can’t learn to laugh at life’s kaleidoscope of horrors, we will be forever crying. We need this play now as we head into another hot, unpredictable summer, we need it perhaps even more than we did when Gow first penned it.

Kitty Goodall

Photographer: Morgan Roberts