advanced english task (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter fareezuh
- Start date
the assignment was written last month and here is some stuf f from wikisikhman said:
Away is a play by the Australian playwright Michael Gow. First performed by the Griffin Theatre Company in 1986, it tells the story of three internally-conflicted families holidaying on the coast for Christmas, 1968. It has become the most widely produced Australian plays of all time and is part of the Higher School Certificate syllabi or general High School Curriculum in many states, including Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria.
Each of the three families hopes that the holiday will resolve the crisis that they face. Roy, a headmaster, and Coral, his wife, realise that their marriage is falling apart as they grieve the death of their son in the Vietnam War. Tom, an English immigrant and a pupil at Roy's school, knows that he is dying of leukaemia even though his parents, Harry and Vic, have yet to tell him. Tom's family know that this could be their last holiday together, so they are determined to have fun. The third family comprises uptight, martyrish mother, Gwen, her husband, Jim, and their daughter, Meg, who has become friends with Tom courtesy of their mutual appearances in the recent school play. There is a mutual affection between Meg and Tom that is explored and challenged during a near sex scene, where Tom - aware that his life is soon to end - transforms into a desperate weeping puppy and begs Meg to "Let (him) do it to (her)". During a storm the three families find themselves thrown together on the beach that is the play's setting and their antagonism are exploded and resolved.
With the play's conscious nods to Shakespeare (it opens with the school's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and ends with King Lear) Gow emphasises the performativity of individual human responses to death, racism, class, and relationships. Gow sees the play as largely autobiographical.
In 2006, a national Australian tour commemorated the play's 20th anniversary. It was a co-production with The Queensland Theatre Company and The Griffin Theatre Company. Michael Gow is now the Artistic Director of The Queensland Theatre Company and the return of 'Away' to the Griffin was a cause for great celebration. The production then embarked on a sold out national tour.
This play is deeply loved as part of Australian culture. It is interesting to note that when the play was performed in the USA, many Americans did not realize Australia had been involved in the Vietnam War. They did not realize that many young Australians were lost in the Vietnam conflict or how unpopular the war had been due to conscription.
http://community.boredofstudies.org/
Characters
- Tom
- Roy
- Meg
- Gwen
- Jim
- Coral
- Harry
- Vic
- Leonie
- Rick
- Miss Latrobe
blackglitter
Member
I really don't like that play much
blackglitter
Member
For the context of Away, you could say that even though it is a contemporary play, it's set in the late 1960s in order to deal with current issues such as deaths as a result of war, etc. without having to deal too much with offending the audience's views on such matters
thanks
i need to say how the context of the play applies to modern society
as in 2008 and also the context of my group
it is a group assignment.
i have 3 boys
-assyrian boy dark skin supposedly writes good essays
-pakistani boy rich father a doctor muslim
-white Anglo australian gangsta graffiotier gets into fights has girlfriend (not me)
i need to say how the context of the play applies to modern society
as in 2008 and also the context of my group
it is a group assignment.
i have 3 boys
-assyrian boy dark skin supposedly writes good essays
-pakistani boy rich father a doctor muslim
-white Anglo australian gangsta graffiotier gets into fights has girlfriend (not me)
blackglitter
Member
Ummm, this assignment of yours is really weird. Anyways, you could talk about the different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds of your group and how differences in such groups are also evident in Away - do a compare and contrast. As in, Tom's family is of British background and of a low socioeconomic class, etc. The context of the play applies to modern society as its themes (e.g. love, healing, the cycle of life, family relationships, self-knowledge/acceptance, etc.) are all relevant issues in today's world.fareezuh said:
You have to INFER (is that the right word to use?) his context. His biography will tell you what you need to know. Eg. If he grew up during a war period, will this affect how the play was written? etc. etc.fareezuh said: