Away Revision
Away by Michael Gow
Half-Yearly Revision
Act-by-Act Summary / Structure
Genre: Form (Drama)
As Away is a drama, it will be important for you to discuss the unique features of this form. You may wish to consider the following: Intertextuality: Shakespearean texts
Away begins with the final scene from A Midsummer Night’s
Dream (a comedy) and ends with a production of King Lear (a tragedy). These two texts frame the play and develop its major theme of reconciliation. Structurally, the orientation suggests that Tom/Puck will ‘restore amends’ (Midsummer) and the resolution confirms a new sense of the characters being
‘unburdened’ (King Lear).
Genre: Form (Drama)
Play within a Play – The Stranger on the Shore
Gow uses the Shakespearean theatrical device of the play within a play. In
Shakespeare’s Hamlet (mentioned in Act 5 scene 2), this device is used to discover the truth. The belief is that the play will trigger in the audience a reaction if they identify with it. Here we have two audiences: the audience in the play and us. Discovery works at both levels as we discover more about the characters and they discover more about themselves.
In this play, Tom teaches Coral to walk. Outside this frame, Tom has taught
Coral to acknowledge and accept the death of her son, and her need to face the world again. Tom’s own circumstances (his serious illness) gives him a unique perspective and empathy towards others. Coral is thus able to accept his ‘truth’ and, with this psychological and emotional discovery, she can finally embark upon her road to recovery.
Genre: Form (Drama)
Music:
A performance brings a play script to life through sights, sounds and movement. In Away, Michael Gow makes use of Mendelssohn’s music from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
This music is used throughout the play, including the beginning and the end: (Act 1 sc 1; Act 3 sc 4;Act 3 sc 5; Act 4 sc 3; Act 5 sc 2)
Symbols and Motifs
The Holiday: Conveys different things for each
family
Half-Yearly Revision
Act-by-Act Summary / Structure
Genre: Form (Drama)
As Away is a drama, it will be important for you to discuss the unique features of this form. You may wish to consider the following: Intertextuality: Shakespearean texts
Away begins with the final scene from A Midsummer Night’s
Dream (a comedy) and ends with a production of King Lear (a tragedy). These two texts frame the play and develop its major theme of reconciliation. Structurally, the orientation suggests that Tom/Puck will ‘restore amends’ (Midsummer) and the resolution confirms a new sense of the characters being
‘unburdened’ (King Lear).
Genre: Form (Drama)
Play within a Play – The Stranger on the Shore
Gow uses the Shakespearean theatrical device of the play within a play. In
Shakespeare’s Hamlet (mentioned in Act 5 scene 2), this device is used to discover the truth. The belief is that the play will trigger in the audience a reaction if they identify with it. Here we have two audiences: the audience in the play and us. Discovery works at both levels as we discover more about the characters and they discover more about themselves.
In this play, Tom teaches Coral to walk. Outside this frame, Tom has taught
Coral to acknowledge and accept the death of her son, and her need to face the world again. Tom’s own circumstances (his serious illness) gives him a unique perspective and empathy towards others. Coral is thus able to accept his ‘truth’ and, with this psychological and emotional discovery, she can finally embark upon her road to recovery.
Genre: Form (Drama)
Music:
A performance brings a play script to life through sights, sounds and movement. In Away, Michael Gow makes use of Mendelssohn’s music from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
This music is used throughout the play, including the beginning and the end: (Act 1 sc 1; Act 3 sc 4;Act 3 sc 5; Act 4 sc 3; Act 5 sc 2)
Symbols and Motifs
The Holiday: Conveys different things for each
family