Play with music.
Loosely based on Nowra's own experience at producing a play (Trial by Jury) at Melbourne's Plenty Mental Home, Cosi has become a favourite with theatre companies and audiences alike since it premiered in 1992. Full of theatrical jokes and roles rich with Jonsonian humour, the play's use of a play rehearsal device also provokes images of the not-too dissimilar 'families' that come together in the professional theatre. Indeed, Nowra notes in the premiere season's programme notes that 'like the actual events of those days [the play] is, I hope, full of comedy and affection. Real madness and angst only occurred when I worked with professional actors'.
Set in 1971, Cosi takes an affectionate look at madness and mayhem in a world where institutions can be less limiting than ideology. The narrative is played out two locations, a mental institution and a suburban backyard. , Fresh from university, Lewis (a play on Louis) arrives to direct a play with the inmates, but is persuaded by Roy to stage his favourite opera, Cosi Fan Tutte. Lewis' problems don't end, however, with the fact that the other inmates are neither opera singers nor Italian-speakers. There is Ruth, troubled by the concept of a real illusion ; Zac, who insists on playing Wagner ; Doug, who is committed to the closed ward ; not to mention the sexual advances by Cherry and Julie. Lewis's world is no less complicated at home, where he has to contend with escaping pigs, exploding beer bottles and the pretensions of his politically correct friends.
The music incorporated into the narrative includes: 'Wild Thing' (by The Troggs), various songs from Cosi Fan Tutte, 'Purple Haze' (Jimmy Hendrix) 'Candy Says' (a Velvet Underground song, pre-recorded), and Wagner's 'The Ride Of The Valkyries'.
Cosi
Cosi: A Comedy That's Not Quite all There
( dir. Mark Joffe
)
Sydney
:
Miramax Films
,
1996
Z331261
1996
single work
film/TV
Loosely based on Louis Nowra's own experiences as a young theatre practitioner, Cosi follows protagonist Lewis, an unemployed actor who joins a government program to help rehabilitate mentally ill patients in a Sydney institution. Among the patients are psychopathic firebug Doug, pathologically shy Henry, lovesick Cherry, forlorn Ruth, recovering drug-addict Julie, and ever-demanding Roy. Hoping to realise his dream of staging a production of Mozart's Così Fan Tutte, Roy begins takes over the inexperienced Lewis's program, even though oblivious of the fact that none of the other patients can sing opera. As Lewis attempts to keep control of the inmates, his own life begins to spiral out of control. After being dumped by his girlfriend, Lewis finds himself drawn to Julie. He is also sacked by the hospital administrator. Having come so far with their production, however, he and the actors secretly rehearse at night. Errol, the head of nursing, tells his supervisor that the group is preparing a variety show to be performed for the health minister's forthcoming visit. On the night, they instead present their somewhat chaotic version of Cosi.
Teachers' notes (Part A) for 2019 production - via Melbourne Theatre Company.
First produced by Company B at the Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney, beginning 21 April 1992.
Director: Adam Cook.
Produced by Melbourne Theatre Company in 1994 (Russell Street Theatre).
Director: Nadia Tass.
Presented with reduced production values, using a single set and with the domestic scenes either cut or relocated.
Revived in 2003 at the Optus Playhouse (QPAC, Brisbane) for La Boite Theatre.
Director: Adam Cook.
Produced by La Boite Theatre, 8 February - 8 March 2014.
Director: David Berthold.
Designer: Hugh O'Connor.
Lighting Designer: Ben Hughes.
Cast: Aaron Davison, Jennifer Flowers, Amy Ingram, Jessica Marais, Benjamin Schostakowski, Anthony Standish, James Stewart, and Trevor Stuart.
Produced by Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company (co-production), 30 April to 8 June 2019 (The Sumner, Southbank Theatre) and 1 November to 14 December 2019 (Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House).
Director: Sarah Goodes.
Set Designer: Dale Ferguson.
Costume Designer: Jonathan Oxlade.
Cast: Paul Blackwell (Roy), Esther Hannaford (Julie), Hunter Page-Lochard (Lewis), Robert Menzies (Henry), Rahel Romahn (Doug), and Katherine Tonkin (Ruth).
Presented by Griffin Theatre Company, 9 February - 21 April 2024.
Director: Declan Greene.
Associate Director: Daley Rangi.
Set Designer: Jeremy Allen.
Costume Designer: Melanie Liertz.
Lighting Designer: Kelsey Lee.
Composer & Sound Designer: Daniel Herten.
Consultant, Disability: Christopher Bryant.
Consultant, Inclusion: Bayley Turner.
Cast: Thomas Campbell, Paul Capsis, Philip Lynch, and Nikki Viveca.
Cosi : The Writer's Cut
( dir. Gerri Williams
)
1996
Z1322837
1996
single work
film/TV
In this documentary, Louis Nowra discusses the rewriting of Cosi's screenplay during filming and his attitude to those changes. Several actors and production team members also comment on the making of the film.
'2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the opening up of relations between Australia and the People’s Republic of China. When he became prime minister in 1972, Gough Whitlam sent the first ambassador to China (Dr Stephen Fitzgerald), and in his term of office established support for artists’ exchanges from the Australia Council. The Australian Ballet visited China in 1980, the first major ballet company to tour since the Cultural Revolution. The touring of China by Australian theatre, opera and dance companies has flourished since then, particularly over the last decade, and Australian spoken-word drama has featured in the relationship between the two countries since 1983. Since the 1980s, the work of the New Wave dramatists has captured the interest of Chinese audiences over a sustained period beyond the years of the New Wave itself. The theatre has, in some respects, provided a respite from the rigours of realpolitik and most importantly a means of genuine interaction between ordinary Australians and Chinese citizens who make up the audiences. This article documents the take-up of the New Wave drama in China, and the legacy of the relationships created in this formative period of Australian theatre in its international context.' (Publication abstract)
'Cosi is the second in Louis Nowra’s trilogy of fictionalised stage memoirs: “part memory, part imagination — but mostly downright lies”. Nowra appears in all three as his alter ego, Lewis.' (Introduction)
HSC English Standard
Australian Capital Territory
:
Into English
,
2014
7049894
2014
series - publisher
criticism
Adaptations : A Guide to Adapting Literature to Film
Strawberry Hills
:
Currency Press
,
2007
Z1361797
2007
single work
criticism
Adaptations discusses approaches to adaptations of various forms of literature using a range of Australian texts and films as examples.
A Study Guide to Louis Nowra's Cosi
Ballarat
:
Wizard Books
,
1997
Z1612242
1997
single work
criticism
