Born out of love and concern, the protection each extends to the other is moving, even as it is misplaced. Through his dramatic play on amateur night, Tom demonstrates in a dignified way the importance of courage and honesty in relationships. It is one of the strengths of the play that Away can challenge contemporary attitudes towards the mentally ill without being obviously didactic. Neither Paul nor Gwen is comfortable with difference. In his despair at her mental wanderings, Paul threatens to lock Coral up or to arrange shock treatment if she doesn't pull herself together.
Coral is both an object of pity and one of aversion.
The Australia of the 1960s, despite the unsettling and diverse cultural changes taking place, still clings to the comfortable and waspish middle-class expectations of the 1950s. The play also raises questions to do with our treatment of the terminally ill. His pitiful attempts at seduction stem not from any lustful nocturnal imaginings, but from sheer fright. His life, barely begun, is slipping away and no one, it seems, is prepared to help him deal with this. Away, then, is a deceptively simple play.