Nash Theatre
Donald McDonald
Caravan is a sharply comic Australian play that invites audiences into a seemingly idyllic but increasingly chaotic holiday. Five best friends, all approaching forty and feeling the squeeze of ageing, set out on their first joint caravan getaway. The quartet of couples hopes for fun, relaxation—and a reconnection. But paradise is brief.
When one of the group brings along his much younger new girlfriend, the caravan’s compact confines become a pressure-cooker of jealousy, ego and unspoken anxieties. Add to that an imminent storm and seasonally inclement weather, and what was meant to be two carefree weeks becomes a hilarious ordeal where nerves fray, heads bump on too-low ceilings and laughter erupts as tensions tumble.
McDonald’s clever script is both witty and resonant: it examines friendship, marriage, mid-life identity and the Aussie caravan culture with warmth, insight and considerable humour. As the holiday goes-wrong before the holiday-can-even-begin, the friends face their assumptions, challenge their comfort zones and discover just how much—and how little—they’ve changed.
The Brunswick Room
At Merthyr Road Uniting Church
52 Merthyr Road
New Farm
Qld 4005
Contact
Nash Theatre
0418719300