Cosi

The production of Cosi by Louis Nowra, presented by Old Nick Company at the Theatre Royal Backspace in Hobart, presented this reviewer with a dilemma. Who, in a large cast of competent actors, stood out for praise? The simple answer, although something of a standard cliché, is that it truly was an ensemble piece, with everyone working well. The most important and obvious point of this cast was that the characters were on display, not the actors.

The Cosi program is a bit of a giveaway, even if you didn’t know what you were expecting to see. A buff-coloured front cover with black binding, “Larundel Psychiatric Asylum; Patient Files; Cosi Fan Tutte Project” form our impressions.

Cosi is a successfulsemi-autobiographical play written by Louis Nowra, set in a Melbourne mental hospital in 1971, and first performed in 1992. This is a clever and funny, play-within-a-play. It is impossible not to identify with the characters, mental patients with very diverse needs, and even like, or love them, as they make their progress through the action of the “therapy”. The play, or “project”, is a production of Mozart'sCosi Fan Tutte, being directed by Lewis (Zac Lennon), a slightly naive, recently graduated theatre director. Through working with the patients, Lewis eventually discovers a new side of himself which allows him to become emotionally involved and to value love, while anti-Vietnam war protests erupt in the streets outside. Pip Tyrell was an excellent Joy: uproariously funny, likeable, daffy and poignant. The characters included a pyromaniac, a drug addict, a nymphomaniac, a recluse, various sufferers of delusion and dementia and a psychopath or two, reflecting life on the inside at that time, while holding up a mirror to the outside: “There but by the grace of god, go I”, sort of thing. Zac Lennon started timidly, developing confidence as a character and actor. Kath Noonan was lovely as Julie the vulnerable drug addict. Laura Gilkes as Diana the pyro was terrifyingly sinister in a likeable way, and Terri Ryan as Ruth created a very convincing portrayal of an OCD patient. Georgia Lilley portrayed the damaged but recovering Gwen very well. I felt that I know these people.

Well done for a wonderful production with a terrific, well-matched cast.

Merlene Abbott 

Photographer: Jack Yabsley