An unusual romantic relationship between a middle-aged woman and a much younger man is at the centre of Tim.
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This new Australian play, directed by Darren Yap, is coming to the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre on Friday, August 25, 2023.
Tim was adapted by Tim McGarry (Boy Swallows Universe) from the 1974 novel by Colleen McCullough, whose other books include the multimillion seller The Thorn Birds.
McGarry updated the story to the present.
Tim, played by Ben Goss, is a 25-year-old labourer with a mild intellectual disability.
He works as a gardener for Mary (Jeanette Cronin), a middle-aged business executive (in the novel, Mary was a secretary: her new position reflects one of the changes that have occurred in the intervening years).
Over time, Tim develops romantic feelings for Mary and, not too long after, she reciprocates.
"He falls in love with her; she falls in love with him," Goss said.
For both, it's their first serious intimate relationship.
Tim's tight-knit working-class family, who have tried to shelter him from the world's cruelties, including ridicule from his workmates, have mixed feelings when they find out what's happening.
"His parents are initially quite cautious and suspicious," Goss said.
While Tim's father Ron (Andrew McFarlane) is more trusting, his mother Joy (Valerie Bader) is more dubious, but not as much as his sister Dee (Julia Robertson), Goss said.
"She's very protective and can't trust that love is happening.
"It comes from a good place ... She sees a predatory angle to it."
It's an emotionally complex situation and audiences can discover how it is resolved.
Goss, 27, has cerebral palsy - "I have a slightly funky gait" - and said he could relate to Tim as a character with a disability, albeit of a different kind.
He said he had "a deep desire to respectfully portray that".
But there's more to Tim than his disability, including, in his work, "a deep connection to the earth," Goss said. And while other people, including his family, tend to intellectualise relationships, Tim "is a freely loving person who follows his impulses".
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Goss grew up in Launceston a 2019 graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, where he was a recipient of the Irene Mitchell Award for Excellence. Since then, he's worked in independent theatre - in productions such as Leopard Print Loincloth (Kissing Booth) - and participated last year in Midsumma Pathways - a mentorship program for LGBTQIA+ artists with disability.Tim, produced by Christine Dunstan, is his first touring production.
In preparation Goss read the novel and spoke to people who worked in disability care but did not see the Mel Gibson film, preferring to create his own interpretation.
Tim is on at the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre on Friday August 25 and Saturday August 26, 2023 at 7.30pm and Saturday, August 26 at 2pm. For ages 14+. See: theq.net.au.