COSI

BY LOUIS NOWRA
CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND
• COSÌ IS SET IN 1971, A TIME OF GREAT SOCIAL CHANGE IN AUSTRALIA: THE ANTI-VIETNAM WAR PROTESTS WERE IN FULL
FLIGHT, THE SECOND WAVE OF FEMINISM WAS ARRIVING ON OUR SHORES. IT COULD BE ARGUED THAT AUSTRALIAN
SOCIETY HADN’T, UP UNTIL THAT POINT, EXPERIENCED A CLIMATE OF SOCIAL CHANGE SO PROFOUND. FOR THE PATIENTS
IN COSÌ, WHO ARE ISOLATED FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD IN A PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL, THE PLAY IS ABOUT LOYALTY -
BEING LOYAL TO IDEALS AND BEING LOYAL TO THOSE YOU LOVE. FOR LEWIS, THE PLAY’S PROTAGONIST, COSÌ IS A LESSON
IN THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CONNECTION BETWEEN PEOPLE, REGARDLESS OF WHAT REVOLUTIONS ARE GOING ON.

• LIKE THE CHARACTERS IN COSÌ, WE ARE LIVING THROUGH A PERIOD OF ACUTE PERSONAL CHANGE AND THE PLAY IS A
WONDERFUL AND TIMELY REMINDER THAT INTERPERSONAL CONNECTIONS ARE THE THINGS THAT MATTER MOST.

• LOUIS NOWRA, BORN AND RAISED IN MELBOURNE, CAME FROM A FAMILY PLAGUED BY SERIOUS AND DEVASTATING
MENTAL ILLNESS AND, AS A YOUNG MAN, HE DECIDED TO FACE HIS FEAR BY GOING TO WORK AT THE MONT PARK
PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL IN MELBOURNE. COSÌ IS A DRAMATISATION OF HIS EXPERIENCES DIRECTING A SHOW WITH A
GROUP OF PATIENTS THERE.

• ULTIMATELY, THIS PIECE IS A LOVE LETTER TO THEATRE AND TO THE GLORIOUS ACTORS THAT BRING THEATRE TO LIFE
FOR US – THEIR COURAGE, EMPATHY AND GRACE.
 LOUIS NOWRA
NOWRA (BORN UNDER THE NAME MARK DOYLE) GREW UP IN A HOUSING COMMISSION IN MELBOURNE, A
STONE’S THROW FROM MONT PARK ASYLUM. HE BECAME INTERESTED IN THEATRE AT A YOUNG AGE
BECAUSE HIS UNCLE, BOB HERBERT, WORKED AS A STAGE MANAGER AND DIRECTOR FOR J.C.WILLIAMSON’S,
A COMPANY THAT PRODUCED MUSICALS SUCH AS MY FAIR LADY AND CAMELOT. ‘MY YOUNGER SELF WAS
ATTRACTED TO THE SHORT CONCISE SCENES, THE SONGS, THE COLOUR AND DANCING,’ SAYS NOWRA. ‘I
ALSO ADORED THE IDEA THAT THEATRE WAS AN ACT OF THE IMAGINATION AND ONE COULD SET A PLAY
ANYWHERE.’ NOWRA SAYS IT WAS THESE ATTRIBUTES OF MUSICAL THEATRE THAT MADE HIM OPEN TO
PLAYWRIGHTS SUCH AS BRECHT, BOND AND ARDEN, ‘BUT THE OBVIOUS POINT TO MAKE IS THAT BECAUSE
OF MY YOUTHFUL THEATRE-GOING I WAS DRAWN TO THE NON-NATURALISTIC PLAY’.

THE FIRST PLAY NOWRA SAW WAS IN HIS SIXTH YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL, DEATH OF A SALESMAN BY ARTHUR
MILLER. ‘I, WHO HAD BEEN USED TO MUSICALS, SHAKESPEARE AND MOVIES, LOATHED IT.’ HE FOUND THE
CHARACTERS DRAB, AND FOUND THE REALISM EXCRUCIATINGLY FAKE. ‘I FOUND MYSELF HAVING TO
STOP AN IMPULSE TO HOP ON STAGE AND STOP THE SHOW, SAYING “THIS IS NOT REAL, THIS IS PRETENDING,
WHY ARE YOU PRETENDING THIS IS REAL?”’

NOWRA ENROLLED AT LA TROBE UNIVERSITY IN THE EARLY 1970S, BUT DESPISED THE ATMOSPHERE OF
PRIVILEGE AND SMUGNESS. ‘THIS WAS THE PERIOD WHEN I BELONGED TO A STREET THEATRE GROUP WHICH
PERFORMED RATHER SHRILL, CRUDE PROTEST PLAYS.’ HE FAMOUSLY WALKED OUT OF HIS AUSTRALIAN
LITERATURE STUDIES DURING A TUTORIAL ON PATRICK WHITE’S NOVEL THE TREE OF MAN, SAYING IT WAS
DREADFUL, AND NEVER FINISHED HIS DEGREE. NOWRA DESCRIBED HIS DECISION TO ABANDON UNIVERSITY
AS ‘A PROTEST AGAINST EVERYTHING AND NOTHING’. HE DECIDED TO DRIVE AS FAR AWAY FROM
MELBOURNE AND HIS FAMILY AS POSSIBLE, BUT HIS CAR BROKE DOWN IN THE NSW TOWN OF NOWRA
(INSPIRING HIS NAME CHANGE). SHORTLY AFTER, NOWRA REWROTE ONE OF THE STREET THEATRE PLAYS
AND SENT IT TO MELBOURNE’S LA MAMA THEATRE, WHO INVITED HIM TO PUT IT ON. REFLECTING ON THAT
PLAY’S 1975 PRODUCTION, NOWRA SAYS IT WAS ‘ATROCIOUS’, BUT MADE HIM ‘DETERMINED TO DO BETTER’.
LOUIS NOWRA (CONT…)
WHEN I WROTE MY EARLY PLAYS,’ SAYS NOWRA, ‘I THOUGHT I WAS QUITE POOR AT PLAY STRUCTURE AND SO I WROTE MY SCENES ON INDEX CARDS
AND SHUFFLED THEM AROUND ON A LARGE TABLE TO TRY AND DEVELOP A NARRATIVE THAT HAD A STRONG DRIVE OR PUSH TO IT.’ AHEAD OF
WRITING COSÌ, NOWRA SAID AN IMPORTANT AIM FOR HIS WRITING WAS TO ‘GET MY SCENES AS CONCISE AND BRIEF AS POSSIBLE’. HE
WANTED HIS PLAYS TO RESONATE, RATHER THAN PONTIFICATE.
IN THE MID-70S NOWRA MOVED TO SYDNEY, WHERE JOHN BELL (THE FOUNDER OF BELL SHAKESPEARE) DIRECTED HIS PLAY INNER VOICES AT
THE NIMROD THEATRE IN 1977, AND REX CRAMPHORN HIS VISIONS IN A CONVERTED CINEMA NEAR HYDE PARK IN 1978. OVER THE 1980S HE WAS
RESIDENT DRAMATIST WITH THE STATE THEATRE COMPANY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, WROTE THE GOLDEN AGE (1985), AND ADAPTED XAVIER
HERBERT’S CAPRICORNIA FOR THE BELVOIR THEATRE (1988). HIS FIRST SEMI-AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL PLAY, SUMMER OF THE ALIENS (1992), WAS
FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY BY HIS SECOND, COSÌ (WHICH WON THE NEW SOUTH WALES PREMIER’S LITERARY PRIZE) AND, MUCH LATER, A
THIRD, THIS MUCH IS TRUE (2017). ALONG WITH DOZENS OF PLAYS INCLUDING RADIANCE (1993) AND THE ‘BOYCE TRILOGY’ OF 2004-2006 HE HAS
BROUGHT FORTH THE MEMOIR THE TWELFTH OF NEVER (2000), WHICH WON THE COURIER-MAIL BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD, AND THE NOVEL ICE
(2009) WHICH WAS SHORTLISTED FOR THE MILES FRANKLIN AWARD. HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE WRITING TEAM FOR THE ACCLAIMED SBS TV
SERIES, FIRST AUSTRALIANS, WHICH TOOK OUT SEVERAL MAJOR WRITING AWARDS IN 2009. HIS NON-FICTION WRITING INCLUDES THE LONG
ESSAY BAD DREAMING (2007), KINGS CROSS: A BIOGRAPHY (2013) AND WOOLLOOMOOLOO: A BIOGRAPHY (2017).
LOUIS NOWRA BASED COSÌ ON HIS OWN EXPERIENCE OF PRODUCING A PLAY (TRIAL BY JURY) AT THE MONT PARK ASYLUM IN MELBOURNE IN
THE EARLY 1970S. ‘A FRIEND AND I RE-WROTE THE SCRIPT TO INCLUDE BEE GEES SONGS,’ RECALLS NOWRA. ‘THE CAST WERE MENTAL PATIENTS
EXCEPT FOR MY FRIEND AND I’. HOWEVER, THAT EXPERIENCE IS NOT THE ONLY ONE TO INFLUENCE HIS WRITING.
MONT PARK ASYLUM
1912 – 1990’S
COSI FAN TUTTE
• WITHIN THE PLAY COSÌ, THE CHARACTERS REHEARSE AND PRESENT THE COMIC OPERA COSÌ FAN TUTTE (WHICH ROUGHLY TRANSLATES TO ‘THEY ARE ALL LIKE
THAT’ OR ‘ALL WOMEN BEHAVE THE SAME’). THIS WAS A DELIBERATE CHOICE BY NOWRA, SUBSTITUTING HIS REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCE OF GILBERT AND SULLIVAN
(TRIAL BY JURY) FOR MOZART INSTEAD. HE WANTED THE CHARACTERS TO ATTEMPT SOMETHING LARGER THAN AN OPERETTA, AND HE CHOSE THE OPERA THAT
PEOPLE CONSIDER THE MOST TRIVIAL. ‘I ALSO LIKED THAT IT WAS ABOUT THE WAR OF THE SEXES,’ SAYS NOWRA. ‘THAT WAS VERY INTERESTING TO ME BECAUSE
IN AN ASYLUM, ESPECIALLY AT THAT TIME, THERE WAS A RIGID SEPARATION BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN.’

• COSÌ FAN TUTTE IS ABOUT TWO YOUNG MEN BOASTING ABOUT THEIR LOVER’S FIDELITY, BUT THE CYNICAL OLD BACHELOR DON ALFONSO SCOFFS AT THEIR
CERTAINTY. DETERMINED TO PROVE HIM WRONG, THE PAIR DRESS UP AS ALBANIANS AND ATTEMPT TO SEDUCE THE OTHER’S LOVER. THEIR YOUNG FIANCÉES
ARE AMUSED, THEN INTRIGUED. TEMPTATIONS AND TRICKERY PUT BOTH RELATIONSHIPS TO THE TEST.

• THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN COSÌ FAN TUTTE ARE:

• FIORDILIGI: A YOUNG WOMAN
• DORABELLA: ANOTHER YOUNG WOMAN, FIORDILIGI'S SISTER
• DESPINA: THEIR MAID
• FERRANDO: A SOLDIER, ENGAGED TO DORABELLA
• GUGLIELMO: A SOLDIER, ENGAGED TO FIORDILIGI
• DON ALFONSO: AN OLD PHILOSOPHER

• MOZART USED STOCK COMEDY CHARACTERS IN COSÌ FAN TUTTE, MUCH LIKE THE CHARACTERS NOWRA CREATED IN COSÌ.
• FOR A TIME, NOWRA WORKED AS A PLAYWRIGHT FOR LIGHTHOUSE (NOW STATE THEATRE COMPANY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA), WHICH HAD A COMPANY OF ACTORS
THAT WOULD PERFORM ACROSS A VARIETY OF PRODUCTIONS. NOWRA REALISED HE HAD TO WRITE INTO HIS PLAYS AN ‘ARIA’ (A LONG SOLO FOR A SINGER) OF
SORTS FOR EACH ACTOR, SO THEY’D BE PLEASED AND THAT THERE’D BE NO JEALOUSY. ‘I THINK THAT FLOWED ON TO COSÌ,’ REFLECTS NOWRA, ‘I GAVE EVERY
CHARACTER AN ARIA, AN IMPORTANCE.’
COSI FAN TUTTE
INTERVIEW WITH TONY LEGGE, OPERA AUSTRALIA’S ASSOCIATE MUSIC DIRECTOR 2009-2017
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
THE VIETNAM WAR
• THE PLAY IS SET IN 1971 AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF AUSTRALIA’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE VIETNAM WAR. THE VIETNAM WAR WAS
BETWEEN THE COMMUNIST NORTH AND ANTI-COMMUNIST SOUTH OF VIETNAM. AUSTRALIA BECAME INVOLVED IN SUPPORTING THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, FIGHTING ALONGSIDE SOUTH VIETNAM AGAINST A PERCEIVED THREAT OF COMMUNISM FROM THE NORTH.
“ALL THE WAY WITH LBJ” BECAME A WELL KNOWN SLOGAN BROUGHT FROM AMERICA BACK TO AUSTRALIA BY HAROLD HOLT, THE PRIME
MINISTER AT THE TIME, WHO WAS USING IT TO MUSTER PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR AMERICAN PRESIDENT LYNDON B. JOHNSON AND THE WAR.

• LEWIS IS A UNIVERSITY STUDENT AND, ALONG WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND LUCY AND THEIR HOUSEMATE NICK, IS ACTIVE IN PROTESTING
AGAINST THE WAR. FOLLOWING THE MENZIES GOVERNMENT’S COMMITMENT TO SUPPORTING AMERICA IN THE WAR, MANY AUSTRALIANS
PROTESTED OUR INVOLVEMENT, ESPECIALLY CONSCRIPTION. CONSCRIPTION IS A LOTTERY STYLE ENROLMENT SYSTEM OF YOUNG
CIVILIAN MEN, FORCING THEM TO FIGHT IN WAR. BIRTH DATES WERE DRAWN FROM A BARREL, SOMETIMES ON TELEVISION, AND YOUNG
MEN BORN ON THAT DAY WERE SENT TO FIGHT. FROM THE AGE OF 20, MEN QUALIFIED FOR CONSCRIPTION AND IN COSÌ, LEWIS AND NICK
ARE 21, MEANING THEY ARE ELIGIBLE TO BE CALLED UP.

• LEWIS LISTENS TO A RADIO INTERVIEW IN WHICH NICK STATES, “YOUNG AUSTRALIANS OF MY AGE ARE GETTING FED UP WITH OUR
SOCIETY. WE WANT CHANGES AND WE WANT THEM NOW!” (NOWRA, 1992, P. 17). NICK, LEWIS AND LUCY DISCUSS ORGANISING AND
ATTENDING THE MORATORIUMS THROUGHOUT THE PLAY. THESE CHARACTERS REPRESENT A GENERATION OF AUSTRALIANS WHO WERE
POLITICALLY AWARE AND OFTEN UNIVERSITY EDUCATED, EXERCISING THEIR RIGHT TO PROTEST. THE 1970S WERE A TIME IN AUSTRALIAN
HISTORY WHEN PEOPLE WERE BECOMING MORE ACTIVE IN PUBLIC PROTESTS.
THE VIETNAM WAR (CONT…)
• AT THE TIME, THE ANTI-VIETNAM MORATORIUMS WERE THE BIGGEST PUBLIC PROTESTS AUSTRALIA HAD EVER SEEN. THE MORATORIUMS
WERE PEACEFUL, NON-VIOLENT DIRECT ACTIONS IN WHICH PEOPLE WALKED OUT OF WORK AND STUDY TO UNITE AGAINST THE WAR. TWO
HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE PARTICIPATED, MAINLY IN MELBOURNE AND SYDNEY, STAGING SIT-INS AND CHANTING ‘WE WANT PEACE’.
THERE WERE PEOPLE FROM VARIOUS STUDENT GROUPS, DIFFERENT FAITHS, PROFESSIONAL GROUPS, AS WELL AS PARLIAMENTARIANS, ALL
UNITED BY THEIR OPPOSITION TO THE WAR. WHILE THESE PROTESTS WERE PEACEFUL, IT WAS DANGEROUS TO PARTICIPATE. PEOPLE WERE
ARRESTED FOR REFUSING TO REGISTER FOR CONSCRIPTION AND SOME OF THE LATER MORATORIUMS SAW PEOPLE ARRESTED FOR
PROTESTING. ONCE CONSCRIPTED, IT WAS A GAOLABLE OFFENCE TO REFUSE SERVICE AND SOME MEN WERE IMPRISONED.

• WILLIAM WHITE WAS A SYDNEY SCHOOL TEACHER AND THE FIRST AUSTRALIAN TO BE AWARDED CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR STATUS DURING
THE VIETNAM WAR. WHITE WAS GAOLED AFTER FAILING TO REPORT FOR DUTY ONCE HE WAS CONSCRIPTED. HE IS QUOTED AS SAYING:
“THEY WERE ASKING ME TO GO AND KILL PEOPLE, AND BASICALLY THAT WAS MY OBJECTION. I HAD OTHER OBJECTIONS AT THE TIME - I
OBJECTED TO THE PARTICULAR WAR, I OBJECTED TO CONSCRIPTION, BUT BASICALLY I OBJECTED TO THE FACT THAT I WAS BEING ASKED TO
KILL ANOTHER HUMAN BEING.” (ABC, 1990). WHITE HAD TO FIGHT FOR HIS STATUS AS A CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR AND SPENT TIME IN
PRISON UNTIL HE WAS EXCUSED. THERE WAS PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR WHITE AND HIS POLITICAL MESSAGE.

• THE VIETNAM WAR WAS A VERY DIVISIVE PERIOD IN AUSTRALIAN HISTORY, WITH PEOPLE SPLIT INTO TWO SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT; THOSE
FEELING THE WAR WAS UNETHICAL AND PROBLEMATIC, AND THOSE BELIEVING IT WAS AUSTRALIA’S DUTY TO SUPPORT AMERICA AND FIGHT
THE PERCEIVED THREAT OF COMMUNISM. IN THE PLAY, HENRY’S FATHER FOUGHT IN THE KOREAN WAR AND IDENTIFIES AS A PATRIOT,
REPRESENTING PRO-WAR AUSTRALIANS. WHEN HE DISCOVERS NICK IS PROTESTING THE WAR, HE CRIES “TRAITORS! TRAITORS! TRAITORS!”
(NOWRA, 1992, P. 46). THIS INTERGENERATIONAL CONFLICT REPRESENTS THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CLIMATE AT THE TIME.
THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION
• THE 1970S WERE ALSO A TIME OF WOMEN’S LIBERATION AND THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION. LEWIS IS
YOUNG AND UNMARRIED WHEN HE ARRIVES AT THE INSTITUTION. THERE ARE LOTS OF JOKES
THROUGHOUT THE PLAY ABOUT LEWIS LIVING WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND AND ANOTHER FRIEND, WITH
PEOPLE IMPLYING THAT THEY ARE IN A SHARED PARTNER ARRANGEMENT. UPON HEARING THAT NICK
LIVES WITH LEWIS AND LUCY, DOUG SAYS: “YOU SHARE HER?” (NOWRA, 1992, P. 18). LATER IN THE PLAY
WHEN JULIE AND LEWIS ARE DISCUSSING HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH LUCY, JULIE ASKS: “YOU TWO ARE
INTO FREE LOVE?” (NOWRA, 1992, P. 32). LATER IN THE PLAY WHEN IT IS REVEALED THAT LUCY AND
NICK HAVE BEEN HAVING AN AFFAIR, NICK SAYS: “IT’S ONLY SEX. WHAT’S THE FUSS?” (NOWRA, 1992, P.
77). THIS REFLECTS A CHANGING ATTITUDE IN SOCIETY TO MONOGAMY AND SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS.
THIS HISTORICAL MOMENT ALSO ALLOWS FOR SOME OF THE COMEDY: CHERRY IS ALWAYS FLIRTING
WITH LEWIS, OFFERING HIM FOOD AND ATTEMPTING TO KISS HIM.
THEMES
MENTAL HEALTH AND ILLNESS
• HISTORICALLY, PEOPLE WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES HAVE NOT ALWAYS BEEN TREATED WITH HUMANITY. IN APRIL 2019, THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT
LAUNCHED A ROYAL COMMISSION INTO VIOLENCE, ABUSE, NEGLECT AND EXPLOITATION OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY WITH THE INTENTION OF MORE FULLY
PROTECTING PEOPLE LIVING WITH DISABILITY FROM ABUSE. THIS WAS THE RESULT OF A SENATE INQUIRY WHICH FOUND WIDESPREAD RATES OF ABUSE, AND
RECOMMENDED THE ROYAL COMMISSION AS A RESULT. CONSIDERING THIS HISTORY, THE PLAY OFFERS A HUMANE AND COMPASSIONATE REPRESENTATION OF
PEOPLE STRUGGLING WITH MENTAL ILLNESS, AND OFFERS THE AUDIENCE AN IMPORTANT INSIGHT INTO THE LIVES OF HOSPITALISED PEOPLE WITH MENTAL
HEALTH ISSUES.

• IN THE INTERVENING TIME, MENTAL ILLNESS HAS BEEN LARGELY DESTIGMATISED, AND TREATMENT IS MUCH MORE ACCESSIBLE AND CLIENT FOCUSED TODAY.
THE FACILITY IN THE PLAY REPRESENTS THE TIME PERIOD IN WHICH IT IS SET.

• AS A COMEDY, COSI MAKES LIGHT OF SOME OF THE THINGS THAT CAN HAPPEN IN SUCH PLACES. FOR EXAMPLE, DOUG’S PYROMANIA, RUTH’S OBSESSIVENESS,
AND ROY’S IMAGINATION ARE PRESENTED NOT TO BE MADE FUN OF, BUT TO OFFER MOMENTS OF COMEDY IN WHICH THE AUDIENCE LAUGH WITH THE
CHARACTERS AND PERHAPS SEE ELEMENTS OF THEMSELVES ON STAGE. THE SETTING IS DESCRIBED BY LOUIS NOWRA AS “A MELBOURNE MENTAL INSTITUTION”
(NOWRA, 1992, P. 1) AND IS BASED ON A REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE HE HAD WORKING ON A PLAY WITH THE RESIDENT PATIENTS AT THE MONT PARK PSYCHIATRIC
HOSPITAL IN THE 1970S. HE IS THEREFORE ABLE TO OFFER PERSONAL INSIGHTS THROUGH HIS WRITING. WHEN LEWIS ARRIVES, THE SOCIAL WORKER JUSTIN
TELLS HIM “THEY ARE NORMAL PEOPLE WHO HAVE DONE EXTRAORDINARY THINGS, THOUGHT EXTRAORDINARY THOUGHTS” (NOWRA, 1992, P. 5) IN AN ATTEMPT
TO BREAK SOME OF THE STIGMA LEWIS MIGHT INITIALLY HAVE TOWARDS THE PATIENTS.

• THE PLAY ALSO TOUCHES ON THE MEDICATING OF PATIENTS TO MANAGE THEIR ILLNESSES. AT ONE POINT ZAC IS DESCRIBED AS “SOPORIFIC” (NOWRA, 1992, P. 10)
AND DOUG ASKS “HOW MUCH LITHIUM IS THE POOR BUGGER ON?” (NOWRA, 1992, P. 11). THIS SUGGESTS SOME OF THE SIDE EFFECTS THE PATIENTS MIGHT
EXPERIENCE ARE AFFECTING THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE. LATER IN THE PLAY WHEN ZAC’S MEDICATION CHANGES, HE SAYS: “A LOWER DOSAGE. IT’S AMAZING HOW
MUCH MORE BRIGHT THE WORLD SEEMS” (NOWRA, 1992, P. 62). THE PLAY INTERROGATES THE NOTION OF SANITY AND THE ASSUMPTIONS THAT ARE MADE ABOUT
THE PATIENTS BECAUSE THEY ARE INSTITUTIONALISED, AND SUGGESTS THAT THEY ARE MUCH MORE ‘SANE’ AND ‘NORMAL’ THAN THOSE LIVING IN THE OUTSIDE
WORLD. CHERRY BRINGS SHOCK THERAPY EQUIPMENT TO REHEARSALS AND HER AND ROY ACT OUT ITS APPLICATION. THEY HESITATE IN DOING THIS AS THEY
ARE TRIGGERED BY THE TRAUMATIC MEMORIES OF THEIR OWN TREATMENTS.
THE POWER OF THEATRE
• DESCRIBED AS ‘A JOYOUS LOVE LETTER TO THE STAGE’ (STC, 2018), THE PLAY EXPLORES THE WAY THEATRE CAN CREATE A SENSE OF COMMUNITY AND ENRICH THE
LIVES OF THOSE WHO CREATE IT. STAGING THE OPERA SERVES THE CAST OF PATIENTS AND THE DIRECTOR LEWIS IN UNIQUE AND POWERFUL WAYS. THROUGH THE
PROCESS THEY FORM FRIENDSHIPS AND GAIN A SENSE OF ACHIEVEMENT. LEWIS IS ENGAGED TO TEACH THEM ABOUT THEATRE BUT ULTIMATELY HE LEARNS MUCH
MORE IMPORTANT LESSONS FROM THE PATIENTS. ROY SAYS: “THE MUSIC OF THIS OPERA KEEPS THE WORLD IN HARMONY” (NOWRA, 1992, P. 13).

• THE PLAY OFFERS THE PATIENTS SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO, A MEANINGFUL ACTIVITY OUTSIDE THE MONOTONY OF THEIR LIVES ON THE WARDS. IN SPITE OF
THE MANY CHALLENGES THEY FACE, WORKING TOGETHER AS AN ENSEMBLE OFFERS THE PLAYERS A SENSE OF COMMUNITY AND AN OPPORTUNITY FOR CREATIVE
EXPRESSION. ROY’S ENERGY DRIVES THE ENSEMBLE. THE PRODUCTION WAS HIS IDEA AND HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS EVER HEARD OF COSÌ FAN TUTTE. HE IS VERY
ENCOURAGING OF ALL THE OTHERS AND HE IS VERY INVESTED IN THE SUCCESS OF THE PRODUCTION. HE SAYS: “LET’S AIM FOR THE STARS!” (NOWRA, 1992, P. 15).

• WHEN THE PATIENTS INCORPORATE THEIR OWN EXPERIENCES INTO THE PLAY, FOR EXAMPLE INCLUDING THE SHOCK THERAPY, THE EXPERIENCES OF THE OPERA’S
CHARACTERS BECOME MUCH MORE RELATABLE TO THEM. THE PLAY STARTS TO MAKE SENSE WHEN IT BECOMES ABOUT THEIR OWN EXPERIENCES. THEATRE IS MOST
POWERFUL WHEN IT IS ABLE TO REFLECT THE LIVES AND EXPERIENCES OF REAL PEOPLE AND ONCE THE PLAYERS ARE ABLE TO INCORPORATE THEIR LIVED
EXPERIENCE, THE OPERA COMES TO LIFE.

• WHEN ZAC PRESENTS HIS DESIGN TO THE CAST IT DIRECTLY REFLECTS THEIR LIVES AT THE INSTITUTION; THE SET IS STARK AND FEATURES WHITE WALLS
REMINISCENT OF THE WARDS IN WHICH THE PATIENTS LIVE, AND THE PROMOTIONAL POSTER IS MOZART IN A STRAITJACKET. ALTHOUGH THEY ARE INITIALLY
DISAPPOINTED WITH THIS, WANTING A MORE IMAGINATIVE DESIGN, IT OFFERS A UNIQUE PARALLEL BETWEEN THE OPERA AND THE LIVES OF THE PATIENTS. THIS IS
WHEN THE EXPERIENCE OF THE PRODUCTION BECOMES MOST MEANINGFUL – WHEN IT REFLECTS THE EXPERIENCE OF THE PATIENTS IN THE REAL WORLD. THEATRE
HAS THE POWER TO AFFIRM OUR IDENTITIES WHEN WE SEE OUR LIVES REFLECTED ON STAGE.

• THERE IS AN ELEMENT OF MAGIC REALISM TO THE PLAY, WHICH IS USED TO FURTHER HIGHLIGHT THE POWER OF THEATRE. THE GLOWING LIGHTS AND THE SMALL
MOMENTS OF MAGIC AND WHIMSY OFFER THE AUDIENCE AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE THE MAGIC OF THEATRE AS THE CHARACTERS ARE LIVING IT.
GENDER
• COSÌ FAN TUTTE, THE OPERA THAT THE GROUP ARE STAGING, PORTRAYS WOMEN AS DUBIOUS AND UNTRUSTWORTHY. THE TWO
FEMALE CHARACTERS IN THE OPERA ARE LURED INTO A TRAP DESIGNED TO TEST THEIR FAITHFULNESS TO THEIR FIANCES, A TEST
THEY FAIL. JULIE IS CRITICAL OF THE GENDER POLITICS OF THE PLAY AND THE WAY THE WOMEN ARE TREATED. SHE SAYS: “I
DON’T LIKE MEN’S DOUBLE STANDARDS, I GUESS. MEN WANT WOMEN TO DECEIVE THEM BECAUSE IT’LL PROVE THEIR WORST
THOUGHTS ABOUT WOMEN” (NOWRA, 1992, P. 33). SHE IS REFERRING TO THE TRAP THE MEN SET THE WOMEN IN THE OPERA, BUT
SHE IS ALSO CONVEYING A NEW FEMINIST VOICE THAT WAS EMERGING AT THAT TIME IN 1970S AUSTRALIA. THE INFIDELITY
DEPICTED IN THE OPERA IS PARALLELED IN THE LIVES OF THE CHARACTERS, WHEN IT IS REVEALED THAT LUCY AND NICK ARE
HAVING AN AFFAIR.

• YOUNG WOMEN WERE NO LONGER INTERESTED IN PERFORMING SUBSERVIENCE TO THEIR MALE PARTNERS AND STARTED
SPEAKING OUT AGAINST SEXIST ATTITUDES TOWARDS THEM. THE INTRODUCTION OF CONTRACEPTION FOR WOMEN MEANT THEY
HAD NEW FREEDOMS AND WERE NO LONGER BOUND TO MARRY AND HAVE CHILDREN AS A MATTER OF COURSE. LUCY SAYS
“THAT’S HOW THEY [MEN] WANT US TO BE [TRUE AND FAITHFUL], EVEN IF THEY’RE NOT TRUE AND FAITHFUL THEMSELVES”
(NOWRA, 1992, P. 71). SHE IS OFFERING A REBELLION TO THE TRADITIONAL IDEA OF HOW WOMEN WERE EXPECTED TO BEHAVE.
REALITY AND ILLUSION
• THE QUESTION OF WHAT IS REAL OR AN ILLUSION IS WEAVED THROUGH THE PATIENTS’ STATE OF MENTALITY. AS SHOWN THROUGH RUTH WHO
STRUGGLES TO PRETEND LIKE SHE IS HAVING REAL COFFEE ON STAGE, IT IS DIFFICULT FOR SOME TO DISTINGUISH REALITY FROM ILLUSION,
EVEN IF IT IS CLEAR TO EVERYONE ELSE. FOR OTHERS, THEY MAY WILLINGLY REFUSE THE TRUTH AND SUCCUMB TO AN ILLUSION. LEWIS DELUDED
HIMSELF INTO BELIEVING THAT LUCY WAS FAITHFUL, WHEN ALL SIGNS (SUCH AS NICK RESIDING IN THE SAME HOME AND NICK AND LUCY
SPENDING TIME TOGETHER) INDICATED THAT LUCY WAS, IN FACT, BLATANTLY DISLOYAL. MUCH LIKE LEWIS’ PROTECTIVE DELUSION, ROY USES
ILLUSIONS OF A HAPPY CHILDHOOD TO SHIELD HIM FROM FACING HIS REALITY. THIS BUILDS UPON HIS TENDENCIES TO BLAME OTHERS FOR HIS
BEHAVIOUR – HE IS INHERENTLY UNABLE TO FACE THE TRUTH OF HIS ‘INSANITY’ AND SO MANIPULATES HIS REALITY TO MAKE IT MORE
BEARABLE. 

• THROUGHOUT COSÌ, NOWRA ALSO EXPLORES THE RELATIVITY OF REALITY. FOR THE PATIENTS OF THE ASYLUM, PRETENDING TO GIVE ELECTRIC
SHOCK THERAPY TO OTHERS ‘SEEMS REALER’ THAN ‘KISSING AND STUFF’, WHEREAS THE OPPOSITE WOULD BE TRUE IN ‘ORDINARY’ SOCIETY.
HOWEVER, COSÌ ALSO SUGGESTS THAT IMAGINATION HAS THE CAPACITY TO EMPOWER. THROUGH PARTICIPATING IN THE PLAY, WHICH IS AN
ILLUSORY FORM OF REALITY, THE PATIENTS ARE ABLE TO EXPLORE THEIR VIEWS ON LOVE AND COMMITMENT.

• ULTIMATELY, THE BEHAVIOUR OF CHARACTERS SUCH AS ROY AND RUTH ENCOURAGES US TO CONSIDER THE RELIABILITY (OR UNRELIABILITY)
OF OUR OWN PERCEPTIONS. ALONGSIDE THIS, NOWRA STRESSES THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ABLE TO ACCEPT YOUR OWN REALITY, AS HE
SHOWS THAT CHARACTERS WHO FAIL TO DO SO, ALSO FAIL TO EXPERIENCE PERSONAL GROWTH (E.G. ROY, JULIE).
ACTOR – AUDIENCE RELATIONSHIP
• THE ACTOR AUDIENCE RELATIONSHIP CHANGES THROUGHOUT THE PERFORMANCE OF
COSÌ. FOR MUCH OF THE PERFORMANCE, THE AUDIENCE OBSERVES THE ACTION
‘THROUGH THE FOURTH WALL’, WITH THE ACTORS PERFORMING IN A MOSTLY
NATURALISTIC STYLE. DURING THE PERFORMANCE OF COSÌ FAN TUTTE, THE AUDIENCE
BECOMES THE OPERA AUDIENCE, WITH THE ACTORS PERFORMING TO THEM AND
ACKNOWLEDGING THEIR PRESENCE IN THE SPACE. IN LEWIS’ FINAL MONOLOGUE, HE
DIRECTLY ADDRESSES THE AUDIENCE IN AN EPILOGUE OF SORTS, EXPLAINING THE
OUTCOME FOR EACH CHARACTER.
FORM AND STYLE
FORM
HOW DRAMA IS WRITTEN

SCSA DEFINES FORM AS THE WAY IN WHICH THE TEXT IS WRITTEN. FORM CAN BE BROADLY CATEGORISED AS EITHER REALISM OR NON‑REALISM. IF A
TEXT DEALS WITH NON-STEREOTYPED CHARACTERS IN REAL SITUATIONS, WITH A LINEAR NARRATIVE STRUCTURE, ITS FORM IS REALISM. IF A TEXT
DEALS WITH CHARACTERS WHO DEMONSTRATE FEATURES WHICH DEVIATE FROM ACCEPTED DAILY ROUTINES SUCH AS BREAKING INTO SONG,
ADDRESSING THE AUDIENCE AND/OR HAS A NON‑LINEAR NARRATIVE, ITS FORM IS NON-REALISM.

REALISM CAN INCLUDE NATURALISM.

NON-REALISM CAN BE SUB-CATEGORISED INTO VARIOUS GENRES SUCH AS ABSURDISM, COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE, ELIZABETHAN, EPIC, GREEK THEATRE,
MAGIC REALISM AND MUSICAL THEATRE.
ASPECTS OF FORM;
STRUCTURAL - LINEAR, CYCLICAL, EPISODIC, FRAGMENTED
DRAMATIC – COMEDY, TRAGEDY AND THE TRAGIC-COMEDY
PHYSICAL – TV SHOW, OPERA, PUPPETRY, LIVE THEATRE, CINEMATIC, MULTI FORM (MULTI MODAL – LIVE THEATRE WITH FILMED MOMENTS, INCLUSIONS OF
PUPPETRY AND SHADOWS ETC)
FORM OF COSI
• THE SCRIPT OF COSÌ LENDS ITSELF TO A NON-REALISTIC FORM.
THE
PLAYWRIGHT USES CONVENTIONS FROM SEVERAL DIFFERENT GENRES.
INCLUDED BELOW ARE SOME THEATRICAL GENRES THAT ARE CONSIDERED NON-
REALISTIC IN FORM. YOU MAY BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY ELEMENTS OF THEM IN
THIS PLAY.
EPIC THEATRE
• EPIC THEATRE IS A THEATRE STYLE CREATED BY BERTOLT BRECHT IN EARLY 1900S GERMANY. HIS WORK HAD A STRONG POLITICAL
VOICE,
AS BRECHT SERVED AS A MEDICAL ORDERLY DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR AND FLED GERMANY WHEN THE NAZIS CAME TO POWER
IN 1933. HIS MOST ACCLAIMED WORK IS MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN, OFTEN REGARDED AS ONE OF THE FINEST ANTI-WAR
PLAYS. BRECHT SOUGHT TO DISTANCE OR ‘ALIENATE’ HIS AUDIENCE FROM EMOTIONALLY INVESTING IN THE CHARACTERS SO THEY
COULD THINK CRITICALLY ABOUT THE MESSAGE IN HIS DRAMA. TO DO THIS, HE USED CONVENTIONS SUCH AS BREAKING THE
FOURTH WALL, NARRATION, DIRECT ADDRESS, PLACARDS, MULTI-ROLLING (AN ACTOR PLAYING MORE THAN ONE CHARACTER),
MINIMAL SET/COSTUMES/PROPS, MONTAGE, AND EPISODIC SCENES.

• ELEMENTS OF BRECHT’S STYLE OF EPIC THEATRE CAN BE SEEN IN COSÌ. THE PLAY IS MAKING A SOCIAL STATEMENT THROUGH ITS
SETTING, AND THROUGH DEALING WITH THEMES AND IDEAS SUCH AS THE VIETNAM WAR AND GENDER RELATIONS IT IS INHERENTLY
POLITICAL. THE CHARACTERS ALSO USE SIGNAGE ON STAGE TO INDICATE SETTINGS AND SCENES TO THE AUDIENCE, WHICH IS A
BRECHTIAN TECHNIQUE. EARLY IN THE PLAY LEWIS MAKES REFERENCE TO A BRECHT PLAY HE WANTS TO DIRECT WITH THE CAST OF
PATIENTS, ANOTHER REFERENCE TO THE PLAYWRIGHT’S INTEREST IN EPIC THEATRE. AT THE END OF THE PLAY, LEWIS BREAKS ‘THE
FOURTH WALL’ WHEN HE ADDRESS THE AUDIENCE.
THEATRE OF THE ABSURD
• ABSURDIST PLAYS REFLECT THE BELIEF THAT LIFE IS ESSENTIALLY WITHOUT MEANING OR PURPOSE AND THAT HUMAN
BEINGS HAVE LOST THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE. THEY TEND TO DEPICT HUMANS OPPRESSED BY ‘NON-MAN’ AND
FORCES OUTSIDE THEIR CONTROL. LIFE IS A ‘WAITING PERIOD’ THAT IS PAINFUL AND MONOTONOUS (REPETITIVE) AND
THE ONLY ESCAPE IS EITHER ROUTINE OR FANTASY. NOTHING IS ABSOLUTE – EVERYTHING IS RELATIVE.

• CONVENTIONS OF THIS FORM INCLUDE DISCONNECTED AND NON-COMMUNICATIVE SPEECH, THE IDEA THAT WITHIN THE
CONCEPT OF TIME, EVERYTHING HAS HAPPENED BEFORE, REPETITIVE ACTION, POINTLESS SONGS, DANCES AND
JOKES.

• COSI INVOKES ABSURDISM IN THE WAY IN WHICH ‘NORMAL’ SITUATIONS ARE RECONTEXTUALIZED INTO EXTRA-
ORDINARY WAYS. NOWRA ALSO PLAYS WITH THE LANGUAGE SIMILAR TO THAT OF WHICH WE FIND IN THE ABSURDIST
PLAYS OF BECKETT AND PINTER. DURING COSI, IF THINGS BECOME ‘EMOTIONAL’, HUMOUR IS USED TO OVERRIDE THE
MOMENT. THE AUDIENCE IS NOT ENCOURAGED TO LOOK TOO DEEPLY INTO THE BACKGROUNDS OF EACH INMATE.
OPERA
• OPERA IS A STAGED DRAMA SET TO MUSIC IN ITS ENTIRETY, MADE UP OF VOCAL PIECES
WITH INSTRUMENTAL ACCOMPANIMENT, USUALLY WITH ORCHESTRAL INTERLUDES. THE
ENGLISH WORD OPERA IS AN ABBREVIATION OF THE ITALIAN PHRASE ‘OPERA IN MUSICA’
(WORK IN MUSIC). THERE ARE MANY OPERA TRADITIONS IN ASIA (E.G. BEIJING OPERA),
HOWEVER MOST OPERAS STAGED IN THE WESTERN TRADITION ARE SUNG IN ITALIAN,
FRENCH, GERMAN AND ENGLISH, AND COME FROM A REPERTOIRE BY WELL-KNOWN
COMPOSERS SUCH AS MOZART, VERDI, WAGNER, ROSSINI AND PUCCINI. OPERA TYPICALLY
HAS EXTRAVAGANT SCENERY AND COSTUMES, LARGE CASTS AND ORCHESTRAS, MAKING
IT OFTEN A COSTLY PERFORMANCE STYLE. IN COSÌ, THE CHARACTERS STAGE A
PRODUCTION OF MOZART’S COSÌ FAN TUTTE.
COMEDY – ‘THE PLAY WITHIN A PLAY’
• COMEDY AND TRADEGY ARE THE TWO FUNDAMENTAL DRAMATIC FORMS.
• ‘THE PLAY WITHIN A PLAY’ IS A META THEATRICAL CONVENTION THAT IS OFTEN USED IN
COMEDIES. THE AUDIENCE OF COSÌ IS PRIVY TO THE CHAOS OF THE REHEARSALS FOR COSÌ
FAN TUTTE AND BEAR WITNESS TO THE CAST AS THEY REHEARSE AND FACE THE
CHALLENGES OF PUTTING ON AN OPERA. THERE ARE FARCICAL ELEMENTS TO THIS
PROCESS, WHICH PROVIDE MOMENTS OF GREAT COMEDY FOR THE AUDIENCE. THE
DOUBLING OF THE PLAY WITHIN A PLAY MEANS THE AUDIENCE GAIN INSIGHT INTO THE
ACTUAL REHEARSAL PROCESS OF THE PRODUCTION THEY ARE WATCHING.
STYLE
HOW DRAMA IS PERFORMED

SCSA DEFINES STYLE AS THE WAY IN WHICH DRAMA IS PERFORMED.

THE TWO STYLES ARE REPRESENTATIONAL AND PRESENTATIONAL. A COMBINATION OF THESE TWO STYLES CAN BE APPLIED IN
PERFORMANCE AND/OR PRODUCTION:

REPRESENTATIONAL

 REPRESENTATIONAL PERFORMANCE DEMONSTRATES REALISTIC CHARACTERS.

 REPRESENTATIONAL PRODUCTION CONVEYS A REALISTIC SETTING.

PRESENTATIONAL

 PRESENTATIONAL PERFORMANCE DEMONSTRATES ASPECTS OF CHARACTER AND/OR NON‑REALIST CHARACTERS.

 PRESENTATIONAL PRODUCTION CONVEYS ASPECTS OF SETTING AND/OR NON-REALISTIC SETTING.

STYLE OF COSI

• THE SCRIPT OF COSÌ LENDS ITSELF TO AN ECLECTIC STYLE OF PERFORMANCE (A

COMBINATION OF REPRESENTATIONAL AND PRESENTATIONAL). INCLUDED BELOW ARE
SOME STYLES THAT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY ELEMENTS OF IN THIS PRODUCTION.
NATURALISTIC THEATRE
• NATURALISTIC THEATRE WAS A MOVEMENT IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY THAT AIMED TO PRESENT
ACCURATE DEPICTIONS OF ORDINARY PEOPLE ON STAGE IN REALISTIC SETTINGS. KONSTANTIN
STANISLAVSKI DEVELOPED A ‘SYSTEM’ FOR ACTORS TO CREATE REALISTIC PERFORMANCES (INCLUDING
TECHNIQUES SUCH AS GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES, OBJECTIVES AND EMOTIONAL MEMORY). NATURALISTIC
THEATRE MAKES USE OF THE FOURTH WALL, INVITING THE AUDIENCE TO OBSERVE THE ACTION UNFOLD
ON STAGE.

• IN COSI, NOWRA DOES AIM TO PRESENT ACCURATE DEPICTIONS OF ORDINARY PEOPLE ON STAGE SUCH AS
LEWIS, NICK, LUCY AND JUSTIN. HOWEVER, THE LINE BETWEEN REALITY AND ILLUSION IS BLURRED
WHEN IT COMES TO HIS DEPICTION OF THE PATIENTS. THESE CHARACTERS ARE MORE TYPICAL OF
COMEDY STOCK CHARACTERS OR STEREOTYPES THAT WE MIGHT SEE IN NON-REALIST FORMS OF DRAMA.
ECLECTIC THEATRE

• ECLECTIC THEATRE IS A TERM USED TO DESCRIBE A THEATRE STYLE THAT INCORPORATES

MANY DIFFERENT THEATRE STYLES. ECLECTIC THEATRE IS CONSIDERED TO BE A STYLE
FROM THE MODERN ERA OF THEATRE, AND MANY CONTEMPORARY THEATRE
PRODUCTIONS ARE PRESENTED IN AN ECLECTIC STYLE.
SYMBOLISM
BURNT OUT THEATRE
• THE SETTING OF A BURNT-OUT THEATRE DEPICTS THE MISERABLE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH THE PATIENTS OF MENTAL
INSTITUTIONS ARE FORCED TO LIVE. AS THEY ARE OSTRACISED BY THE COMMUNITY, A LACK OF CARE AND SUPPORT IS SHOWN
THROUGH THE REJECTED AND DETERIORATING THEATRE. THE PATIENTS’ CONSIDERABLE ENTHUSIASM HIGHLIGHTS THEIR
UNFORTUNATE CIRCUMSTANCES, SINCE EVEN A CHANCE TO SPEND THEIR TIME IN AN OLD BUILDING PERFORMING A PLAY CAUSES
MUCH EXCITEMENT.

• ALTHOUGH WE SEE THE THEATRE BEING TOUCHED UP WITH NEW LIGHTS AND A ‘COAT OF PAINT’, IT STILL REMAINS DERELICT AND
RUN-DOWN. NOWRA USES THIS TO SYMBOLISE THE FUTILITY OF SURFACE-LEVEL TREATMENTS (SUCH AS MEDICATION AND
ISOLATION) OF MENTAL ILLNESSES, AND HOW WE SHOULD INSTEAD FOCUS ON SEEING THE PERSON BEHIND THE ILLNESS.

• HOWEVER, NOWRA ALSO USES THE THEATRE AS A SYMBOL OF HOPE. DESPITE ITS DESOLATION, IT IS IN THE THEATRE THAT LEWIS
FEELS SAFE TO GROW AND DEVELOP. ADDITIONALLY, JULIE AND LEWIS’ KISS TAKES PLACE ON THE THEATRE’S STAGE. THE KISS
ITSELF REPRESENTS LEWIS BECOMING MORE COMFORTABLE WITH HIMSELF AND HIS INCREASINGLY COUNTER-CULTURAL VIEWS.
ARABIAN PHOENIX
• THE WOMEN IN BOTH COSÌ FAN TUTTE AND COSÌ ARE COMPARED WITH THE ARABIAN PHOENIX. THE
MYTHICAL CREATURE IS A REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN, BEAUTIFUL AND ENCHANTING, CAPTURING
MEN SUCH AS THE GOD APOLLO WITH ITS VOICE. THIS REFLECTS THE POWER OF WOMEN TO ATTRACT
MEN. NEVERTHELESS, ITS RARITY, AS OFTEN COMMENTED ON IN COSÌ , IS LINKED WITH THE
SEEMINGLY INFREQUENT LOYALTY DEMONSTRATED BY WOMEN.

• THE FREQUENT REFERENCE TO THE ARABIAN PHOENIX THROUGHOUT COSÌ CONTINUALLY REINFORCES

THE PLAY’S MISOGYNISTIC UNDERTONE. ITS RARITY IS LIKENED TO THE ABSENCE OF WOMEN’S
FIDELITY, YET NEVER MALE FIDELITY. SIMILARLY, NOWRA INVITES HIS AUDIENCE TO CONDEMN LUCY’S
UNFAITHFULNESS TOWARDS LEWIS, YET WE ARE NOT ENCOURAGED TO FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT
LEWIS’ UNFAITHFULNESS TO LUCY.  
LIGHT AND DARK
• THE LIGHTS IN ACT 1, SCENE 1 HIGHLIGHT LEWIS’ ENTRANCE INTO A NEW WORLD, WHERE HE BEFRIENDS PATIENTS WHO WILL
ULTIMATELY HELP HIM TO LEARN AND DEVELOP. AT FIRST LEWIS, MUCH LIKE LUCY AND NICK, POSSESSES A ‘PITCH BLACK’ PERSPECTIVE
OF THE WORLD. THIS IS A REPRESENTATION OF THEIR MODERN BELIEFS THAT CIRCULATE AROUND POLITICS AND WAR. WHEN THE LIGHTS
ARE TURNED ON, ROY IS PRESENT, DEMONSTRATING THAT THE PATIENTS OF THE MENTAL INSTITUTIONS ARE THE SOURCE FOR  LEWIS’
CHANGING PERSPECTIVE THROUGHOUT THE PLAY. NOWRA ALSO USES THE LIGHTS TO REPRESENT THE HOPE FOR CHANGE THAT LEWIS
BRINGS TO THE PATIENTS, AND VICE VERSA.

• LIGHT IS ALSO USED TO DIRECTLY JUXTAPOSE THE CHAOS AND DESPERATION THAT DARKNESS BRINGS. BEFORE LEWIS ENTERED THE
THEATRE, IT WAS DARK AND DERELICT, SYMBOLISING THE ABANDONMENT AND HOPELESSNESS OF THE ASYLUM’S PATIENTS. THIS
DESPERATION IS VIEWED IN ANOTHER LIGHT DURING JULIE AND LEWIS’ KISS (WHICH TAKES PLACE IN THE DARK). IN THIS INSTANCE,
THEIR DESIRE FOR EACH OTHER AND THE CHAOS THAT ENSUES IS LIBERATING FOR LEWIS, AS IT ENABLES HIM TO COME TO TERMS WITH
WHAT HE TRULY VALUES.

• HOWEVER, JULIE NOTES THAT THE WARDS ARE ‘NEVER REALLY DARK’ AS ‘THERE’S ALWAYS A LIGHT ON IN THE CORRIDOR.’ IN THIS SENSE,
DARKNESS SYMBOLISES AUTONOMY AND FREEDOM, WHEREAS LIGHT REPRESENTS THE CONSTANT MONITORING AND SCRUTINISING
THAT THE PATIENTS ARE SUBJECTED TO.
LIGHTING DESIGN
DESIGN VISION - NIKLAS PAJANTI
• LIGHTING DESIGNER NIKLAS PAJANTI SAYS COSÌ IS VERY MUCH ‘OF ITS TIME’, AND LOUIS
NOWRA’S SCRIPT EXPLORES THE CULTURE AND POLITICS OF 1970’S AUSTRALIA; THE
VIETNAM WAR, COMMUNISM, GENDER POLITICS, DRUG USAGE, DEFINITIONS OF SANITY.
‘HE IS ALSO MAKING FUN OF (IN A LOVING WAY) THEATRE MAKERS,’ SAYS PAJANTI.
‘NOWRA COMICALLY DEMYSTIFIES OPERA BY DEFTLY STRIPPING BACK AND
DECONSTRUCTING COSÌ FAN TUTTE AS PART OF THE ACTION ONSTAGE.’ PAJANTI SAYS
COSÌ IS ALSO ABOUT THE TRANSFORMATIVE AND THERAPEUTIC NATURE OF THEATRE
MAKING OR STORYTELLING. ‘MY LIGHTING WILL SUPPORT THIS AS A PROGRESSION FROM
BLEAK NATURALISM TO MORE MAGICAL HEIGHTENED REALITIES AS THE PLAY UNFOLDS,
THE REHEARSALS CONTINUE, AND THE CHARACTERS GAIN CONFIDENCE IN THEMSELVES.’
FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT
DESIGN CONCEPTS
LIGHTING TWO WORLDS

PAJANTI’S LIGHTING DESIGN REFLECTS BOTH THE REAL WORLD OF THE INSTITUTION (AN ABANDONED, FIRE-DAMAGED BUILDING IN 1971), AND THE INTERNAL WORLD OF THE
PATIENTS, WHOM PAJANTI NOTES ‘HAVE ALSO BEEN ABANDONED AND ARE DAMAGED PEOPLE’. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY SMALL MOMENTS OF MAGICAL REALISM IN
THE PRODUCTION; LIGHTING EFFECTS THAT DON'T EXIST IN REALITY BUT ARE AN EXPRESSION OF THE PATIENTS THOUGHT PROCESSES, IDEAS OR FLIGHTS OF FANCY DUE TO
BEING HEAVILY MEDICATED.

‘I WILL USE A COMBINATION OF FIXTURES. VISIBLE ONSTAGE WILL BE SOME LIGHTS THAT ARE ACCURATE FOR THE ERA (1960-70’S TECHNOLOGY) AND EVERYWHERE
ELSE I WILL USE THE MORE CONTEMPORARY EQUIPMENT COMMONLY USED IN THEATRES TODAY. INTELLIGENT FIXTURES INCLUDING MOVING HEADS AND LEDS AND
ALSO MODERN TUNGSTEN FIXTURES.’

THE JOURNEY FROM DARK TO LIGHT

PAJANTI’S DESIGN QUITE LITERALLY SUPPORTS THE CREATIVE TEAM’S CONCEPT OF THE PRODUCTION PROGRESSING FROM DARK TO LIGHT. ‘THE EXTERNAL WORLD VISIBLE
THROUGH THE DOORS IS GLOWING WHITE AND BY THE END OF THE PLAY WE WILL TURN THE BLACK BURNT-OUT THEATRE INSIDE OUT AND BRING THAT EXTERNAL
LUMINESCENCE INTO THE SPACE. THE CHARACTERS CARRY THAT TRANSFORMATION IN PIECE BY PIECE.’
‘THE THEATRE ITSELF, THE BURNT-OUT ROOM THEY'RE REHEARSING IN, IS ALSO A CHARACTER IN THE SHOW. IT WILL HAVE A PRESENCE ALL OF ITS OWN THAT WILL BE
OBVIOUS AT SOME TIMES AND MAY BE MORE SUBTLE AT OTHERS.’

A DESIGN TO GO ON TOUR

PAJANTI MUST ALSO CONSIDER PRACTICAL AND LOGISTICAL LIMITATION IN HIS DESIGN. FOR EXAMPLE, THIS PRODUCTION TRANSFERS TO THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE LATER IN
THE YEAR, SO AN IMPORTANT ASPECT TO KEEP IN MIND THAT ANYTHING HE DESIGNS FOR THE SUMNER THEATRE HAS TO BE ABLE TO BE REPLICATED IN THE DRAMA THEATRE
AT THE OPERA HOUSE. ‘THESE TWO VENUES ARE VERY DIFFERENT IN SIZE AND SHAPE,’ SAYS PAJANTI, ‘SO IT'S A CHALLENGE TO MAKE THIS LIGHTING DESIGN WORK IN BOTH
SPACES.’