Così

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"Cosi" redirects here. For other meanings, see COSI.

Così is a play by Australian playwright Louis Nowra which was first performed in 1992. Set in Melbourne in 1970, Così is semi-autobiographical.

[edit] Plot summary

Lewis, the main character, is a sleek young, inexperienced university student who is given the task of directing a play in a mental hospital. At first he is not keen to do so, giving the reason for having taken on this job as "I need the money". The venue is a theatre that smells of "burnt wood and mould", the cast are patients with very diverse needs, and the play is Mozart's Così fan tutte. 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.

[edit] Characters

The patients make up a wide spectrum including Doug, a pyromaniac; Cherry, a food-addicted, Lewis-addicted romantic and compulsive liar; Julie, a philosophical junkie; Roy, a manic-depressive with a passion for theatre; Henry, an older, silent man, previously a lawyer; Ruth, obsessed with counting and Zac, a drugged up pianist. Other characters include Lewis' girlfriend Lucy and his best mate Nick, whose strongly left-wing ideals Lewis has followed up until now without question. Meeting patients with different views to Lucy and Nick opens Lewis' eyes to other people and the world around him, teaching him to be more tolerant.

Adaptations of the play often give the lead character, Lewis, a voice stuttering problem himself (ultimately, to highlight the imperfection of the whole human race).

The play was also made into a film in 1996, starring Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths, screenplay also by Nowra. It won the Australian Film Institute award for best screenplay. It includes cameos by Bruce Campbell, Chuck Palahniuk, James Hewson, Matt Lynch, and Louis Nowra as himself.