Louis Nowra
Doug’s
deliberate antagonising
of other’s and his pyromania
Zac – has abrupt entrances and
exits
They both have clown-like roles
– but Doug is much more
menacing.
inside the burnt out theatre – this is the physical
stage setting for audiences watching the play
 Mental Institution or asylum. Interpersonal
relationships here are different than those in the
outside world. Lewis is a variation to their boring
daily routines.
 outside in Melbourne 1971, - the year of the
action – a time of social change – Vietnam war,
conscription and political unrest, Moratoriums,
‘free love’
 setting of the opera by Mozart - theme parallels
 Lewis’ memory of the events- since at the end
we realise the whole play has been a reflection
of events that happened to him. He never leaves
the stage.

 Roy
says ‘the theatre is no place for
metaphysics’. He means the theatre is no
place for examining philosophy, or the
underlying theoretical principles of a subject
or field of inquiry. – But this appears to be
what Cosi does. Ruth – struggling with what is
real and what is not puts the drama of
philosophical questions right before us.
 Themes of opera and Cosi are intertwined –
love and fidelity are universal concepts.
 Zac
provides the distinct contrast between
endings – ‘what is going to happen to the
couples in the future: a life of torment and
adultery’.
 Creates ‘metatheater’ – by acting out a
character role in the play within the play
each character is able to discover and reveal
unexpected , unusual, or even unrealised
qualities in themselves. This adds interest,
expands the action and enables deeper
meaningfulness. Ruth is a good example of
this as she discovers more confidence in
herself through playing Dorabella.
 Lewis’
final speech has a dramatic
function – adds an autobiographical
element to the play, reminds the
audience of everyone’s life is part of
a wider context. In the world of
comedy and fun their needs to be an
ending – the audience must return to
the real world.



This is a feature of expressionism – (a style of
playwriting and stage presentation stressing the
emotional content of a play, the subjective reactions
of the characters, symbolic or abstract
representations of reality, and non naturalistic
techniques of scenic design.)
It emphasises the emotional reactions - it intends to
underline a key emotional moment – a moment of
perception, or awareness (a light bulb moment) – of
love, stress, fear, amazement etc. It is a
psychological pause. It signifies a quick change of
emotional gears.
Each beat is open to its own interpretation. The only
awareness an audience has of {a beat} as they watch
a performance is an awareness of a heightened or
altered response n an actor to something said.
 -the
comedy is a mask of fun, wit, bravura,
but it does not completely seal the other
darker world of struggle we must endure in
real life.
 -Comedy gives us some courage for the
journey – some relief from its seriousness
– it is wildly absurd to put a group of mentally ill
patients under the direction of a nervous young
man with little drama experience.
 Each of the performers has a different illness,
each cannot sing and none speak Italian.
 -Cosi is using humor to tell us something
important about the world we live in – living
dreams (Roy) , understanding love and
commitment, developing self confidence,
discovering what is important in life. How
‘normal’ is ‘normal’?

 -the
play entwines the values of worlds:
world of Opera with the world of the mental
institution and the outside world of the 1971.
– the humorous outcome is the division
between these worlds comes from the fact
the lines between them are not clear and
what is ‘normal’ or ‘sane’ can be questioned
 -the
performance of the last scene of Cosi
fan tutte depends the comedy of the play to
poignancy. While on the positive outcome
for the lovers of the opera is exaggerated,
and the patients are satisfied with their
efforts, the upbeat, optimistic outcome of
the impact of doing the play is short lived as
Lewis reveals how things had turned out in
the following year. There are no magic cures
for mental illness and life is more
complicated than a night of theatre
entertainment
 Australian
dialogue

Crass politically and sexually
inappropriate language

Poetic lyrical language of Cosi Fan Tutti
(libretto or words of the Opera)
 Uninhibited
directness – many characters are
painfully direct and abrupt in their dialogue.
This is a reflection of their personalities and
values. For example Doug’s line ‘Poofter?’ to
Lewis. Doug is oblivious to his own sexual
hang-ups. Lewis’ nervousness is revealed in
response to Doug’s questions.
 These uncensored socially inappropriate,
impolite lines of dialogue add humour to the
play – they do get a laugh. Uninhibited
directness in dialogue is a key source of
humour.
 Cherry
tells the story of what happened to
her so seriously we are all sucked in by her
pulling our leg. Underlying this of course our
views of what causes or contributes to
mental illness is challenged – even though we
laugh.
 Good
one liners reveal a complex truth about
the world. Roy provides the best one liners
and this swerves to emphasise his leadership
in the group.
 Lewis utters a significant one liner at the end
of the play – ‘I don’t have a concept, I’m a
director.’
 Several
conversations taking place at once on
stage. – the black out scene – Cherry is
looking for Lewis, Zac is molesting Ruth and
Julie kisses Lewis.
The are many references to bodily functions and
parts – urinating, sexuality, etc. Vulgarity is an
expected behaviour in those with no social
inhibitions and to a degree accepted part of
social relations in a mental institution. Everyone
knows everyone else’s business, there is no
privacy. The bluntness and inappropriateness of
the comments are meant to shock the audience
who are ‘outside’ the world of the institution
because while we might think such things we
would hardly dare to say them out loud. We end
up laughing out of embarrassment.
 Ironically – Nick is also as vulgar – perhaps
contributing to the blurred line between
‘normal’ or ‘sane’ and not.

 Irony
exists in the parallels between Lewis’
love life ‘off stage’ and his love life ‘on
stage’. On stage the infidelity is treated light
heartedly – in ‘character’ of Fiordiligi and
Ferrando, it is a trick, and the emotional
turmoil is portrayed as comedy. In the
blurred lines of Cosi, Julie returns to her
true lover. Off stage – Lewis is devastated by
Lucy’s infidelity. He is moving out of the
house, the relationship is over.
–
a light humorous play in which plot depends
more on situation than character. This tends
to describe the action of the play that is the
performance of Mozart’s Opera.
 -Australian rather than Albanian soldiers
 -the music does not come on on cue in Act
two scene four – a farcical improvisation
takes place to solve the problem