Cosi

Louis Nowra’s play Cosi is very poignant. It is a story set in a psychiatric institution with mainly psychiatric patients as the characters. Lewis (Rhys Carter) is an emerging theatre director who has been employed by the institution to help the patients produce a theatrical performance. The production certainly reflects the era in which it was written and the era in which the play is set. 

Mental health policy and practice has dramatically changed since 1971 (when the play is set) and since the play first appeared on stage and screen in the early 1990s. Some of the issues in the play remain very relevant to a contemporary audience but much of the language is antiquated. The very dated nature of the context of the story is a challenge when staging such an iconic and historic play. This production would have benefitted from considering ways to address such challenges.

The individual approaches to the characters provide a clear delineation of each persona, their pathology and the circumstances which see them placed in psychiatric care. Ruth (Angelique Malcolm) is a patient suffering from a disorder related to compulsion and Malcolm makes her character troubled but extremely likeable. Roy (Timothy Camilleri), who instigated the project, uses it as a vehicle to indulge his narcissism. Camilleri is extremely adept at showing how this drives his motivations for staging the play. Camilleri’s portrayal of Roy’s yearning for attention is often tender and moving. Henry (Greg Cormack) is a traumatised war veteran but Cormack injects humour into the role and makes his unpredictable presence on stage very compelling. Each character becomes all the more endearing as the circumstances behind their mental health issues unfold. This allows the audience to develop a great deal of empathy for the characters and to enjoy their often-quirky behaviour.

Lewis is a very pivotal character and much of the play relies on the relationship he develops with the patients when trying to deliver the very difficult task of producing a performance of Mozart’s opera Cosi Fan Tutte. Carter’s approach to the role portrays Louis as somewhat feeble and insipid. This means that he is often overshadowed by the other characters who have very intriguing or tragic backgrounds and this tends to obscure the centrality of his role. 

The set is very meticulous and elaborate and reflects the sombre nature of the story. However, as a space it remains somewhat static. Scene transitions are accompanied by a great selection of Australian 70s hit songs and this helps to recreate the era beautifully. However, the transitions tend to slow down the pace of the performance. The show within a show is handled with humour and provides a very upbeat climax to the performance. The efforts of this production are concentrated on delivering an accurate and faithful interpretation of an important Australian play.

Patricia Di Risio

Images: (top) L-R:  Timothy Camilleri (Roy), Aimee Sanderson (Julie), Rhys Carter (Lewis), Morgan Thomas-Connor (Cherry), & (lower) L-R: Aimee Sanderson (Julie), Morgan Thomas-Connor (Cherry), Angelique Malcolm (Ruth), Daniel Trenkovski (Nick). Photographer: David Belton.