Michael Gow
Encyclopedia
Michael Gow is an Australian playwright and director
most famed for his 1986 work Away
.
As a student at Sydney University, Gow acted and directed with the Dramatic Society from 1973-1976. After graduation, Gow went on to act with Nimrod, Thalia and Sydney theatre companies.
He has been the Artist Director for Queensland Theatre Company
since 1999. Productions he has directed for the company include: Private Fears in Public Places, John Gabriel Borkman, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
(2007); The Importance of Being Earnest
, Anatomy Titus Fall of Rome: A Shakespeare Commentary, I Am My Own Wife
, (2008); The School of Arts and The Crucible (2009).
Away
is the story of three Australian families who go on holiday "up the coast" for Christmas 1967 as a remedy to personal crises, whose story threads eventually interconnect. The families cross the class and social divides: one is in a smart hotel, another is at the local caravan park; another is in the throes of possible divorce. These factors are woven into a story of love and loss that allows a young boy and girl to taste first love and the pain of death while their parents cope, more or less, with the consequences. It remains a landmark of Australian contemporary drama and the best of Gow's earlier work.
Europe is also an intriguing work as a young man and a European actress of uncertain age meet in her dressing room.
Gow had not written a full length play for ten years while fully engaged as artistic director of QTC – Queensland Theatre Company
– then produced Toy Symphony
in 2007, which received its world premiere production at Belvoir St Theatre. It was a critical and popular success, starring Richard Roxburgh
in his first stage role for some years. Toy Symphony
is a further exploration of Gow's Shire
roots and much else besides. The production won four Sydney Theatre Awards: Best Mainstage Production, Best Director (Neil Armfield
), Best Actor (Richard Roxburgh
) and Best Supporting Actress (Monica Maughan
).
titles on www.australianplays.org
Theatre direction
A theatre director or stage director is a practitioner in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production by unifying various endeavours and aspects of production...
most famed for his 1986 work Away
Away
Away is a play written 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...
.
As a student at Sydney University, Gow acted and directed with the Dramatic Society from 1973-1976. After graduation, Gow went on to act with Nimrod, Thalia and Sydney theatre companies.
He has been the Artist Director for Queensland Theatre Company
Queensland Theatre Company
The Queensland Theatre Company was established in 1970 as the Royal Queensland Theatre Company. The Company is the state's flagship professional theatre company, headed up by multi-award winning playwright and director Wesley Enoch...
since 1999. Productions he has directed for the company include: Private Fears in Public Places, John Gabriel Borkman, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play by Edward Albee that opened on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theater on October 13, 1962. The original cast featured Uta Hagen as Martha, Arthur Hill as George, Melinda Dillon as Honey and George Grizzard as Nick. It was directed by Alan Schneider...
(2007); The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
, Anatomy Titus Fall of Rome: A Shakespeare Commentary, I Am My Own Wife
I Am My Own Wife
I Am My Own Wife is a play by Doug Wright based on his conversations with German transvestite Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. The one-man play premiered Off-Broadway in 2003 at Playwrights Horizons. It opened on Broadway later that year. The play was developed with Moisés Kaufman and his Tectonic...
, (2008); The School of Arts and The Crucible (2009).
Away
Away
Away is a play written 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...
is the story of three Australian families who go on holiday "up the coast" for Christmas 1967 as a remedy to personal crises, whose story threads eventually interconnect. The families cross the class and social divides: one is in a smart hotel, another is at the local caravan park; another is in the throes of possible divorce. These factors are woven into a story of love and loss that allows a young boy and girl to taste first love and the pain of death while their parents cope, more or less, with the consequences. It remains a landmark of Australian contemporary drama and the best of Gow's earlier work.
Europe is also an intriguing work as a young man and a European actress of uncertain age meet in her dressing room.
Gow had not written a full length play for ten years while fully engaged as artistic director of QTC – Queensland Theatre Company
Queensland Theatre Company
The Queensland Theatre Company was established in 1970 as the Royal Queensland Theatre Company. The Company is the state's flagship professional theatre company, headed up by multi-award winning playwright and director Wesley Enoch...
– then produced Toy Symphony
Toy Symphony (play)
Toy Symphony is a two-act play written by Australian playwright Michael Gow. It is Gow’s first full length play in over a decade since Sweet Phoebe and won several awards at its 2007 premiere production at Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney....
in 2007, which received its world premiere production at Belvoir St Theatre. It was a critical and popular success, starring Richard Roxburgh
Richard Roxburgh
Richard Roxburgh is an Australian actor who has starred in many Australian films and has appeared in supporting roles in a number of Hollywood productions, usually as villains.-Early life:...
in his first stage role for some years. Toy Symphony
Toy Symphony (play)
Toy Symphony is a two-act play written by Australian playwright Michael Gow. It is Gow’s first full length play in over a decade since Sweet Phoebe and won several awards at its 2007 premiere production at Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney....
is a further exploration of Gow's Shire
Sutherland Shire
The Sutherland Shire is a Local Government Area in the Southern Sydney region of Sydney, Australia. Geographically, it is the area to the south of Botany Bay and the Georges River...
roots and much else besides. The production won four Sydney Theatre Awards: Best Mainstage Production, Best Director (Neil Armfield
Neil Armfield
Neil Geoffrey Armfield AO is an Australian director of theatre, film and opera.Born in Sydney, Armfield was the youngest of three boys. The son of a factory worker at the nearby Arnott's biscuit factory he was brought up in the suburb of Concord adjacent to Exile Bay...
), Best Actor (Richard Roxburgh
Richard Roxburgh
Richard Roxburgh is an Australian actor who has starred in many Australian films and has appeared in supporting roles in a number of Hollywood productions, usually as villains.-Early life:...
) and Best Supporting Actress (Monica Maughan
Monica Maughan
Monica Maughan was an Australian actor with notable and well-known roles in film, theatre, radio and television.-Early life and education:...
).
Works
- The Kid (1983)
- The Astronaut’s Wife (1985)
- AwayAwayAway is a play written 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...
(1986) - 17 (N/A)
- On Top Of The World (1987)
- Europe (1987)
- 1841 (1988)
- All Stops Out (1989)
- Furious (1994)
- Sweet Phoebe (1994)
- Live Acts On Stage (1996)
- Up Here (2004)
- The Fortunes of Richard MahonyThe Fortunes of Richard MahonyThe Fortunes of Richard Mahony is a three-part novel by Australian writer Henry Handel Richardson. It consists of Australia Felix , The Way Home , and Ultima Thule . It was collected in 1930 under the title by which it is now best known...
, adapted from the novel by Henry Handel RichardsonHenry Handel RichardsonHenry Handel Richardson, the pseudonym used by Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson, was an Australian author. She took the name "Henry Handel" because at that time, many people did not take women's writing seriously, so she used a male name...
(2004) - Toy SymphonyToy Symphony (play)Toy Symphony is a two-act play written by Australian playwright Michael Gow. It is Gow’s first full length play in over a decade since Sweet Phoebe and won several awards at its 2007 premiere production at Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney....
(2007)
Other Links
titles on www.australianplays.org