The play’s title ‘Cosi’ is drawn from the opera ‘Cosi-Fan-Tutte’ by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
About the playwright:
- Louis Nowra was born on 12th December 1950. He was born in Melbourne as Mark Doyle but he changed his name in the 1970s. He still lives and works in Australia.
- He is one of Australia’s most successful and prolific playwrights, having written over 32 plays. He has also written novels, screenplays, memoirs and even libretti (this is the written text for an opera).
- His early plays were set in obscure places outside of Australia and dealt with dark and often ambiguous themes such as spirituality and renewal.
- Nowra’s more recent works have featured more local settings, often in familiar Australian landscapes such as suburbia. These works often include compelling lead characters, many of whom are women or more traditionally silenced characters such as Aboriginal people.
- Key themes in the works of Louis Nowra include the power of love to restore hope, the ability for individuals to transform themselves, the nature of madness, the importance of creative expression and resistance.
Type of text
Louis Nowra writes plays. Cosi is a drama text.
Context of text
- The play Cosi is set in Melbourne, Australia in the early 1970s. This was a time marked by a youthful rebellion where Australia’s young people were taking to the streets to protest Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War. It was also a period of ‘free love’ where the traditional morals and ideals were being questioned, and often rejected by the younger generation. Women had access to the new contraceptive pill and this made it easier for women to engage in sexual relations outside of marriage. This brought about a questioning of the need for marriage and fidelity.
- During this time period mental illness was still viewed as something ‘other’ that was not spoken about publicly. People suffering from mental illness were tagged as ‘mad’ and ‘loonies’ and state run institutions were put in place to provide care for most of these people.
- By the 1970s drug use was prolific amongst young adults, particularly those who formed part of the counter culture movement referred to as ‘hippies’. This is evident in the character Julie, who is a heroin addict, and the character of Zac, who is addicted to pharmaceutical drugs.
Audience
This play is written mainly for a young adult and adult audience as it deals with mature themes such as sex, drugs and the nature of love and insanity.
Purpose
The purpose of this text is to entertain the audience through comedy, but also to inform the audience about the ineffectiveness of categorising people as being ‘mad’. The play also encourages the audience to reconsider the value of love and fidelity in a modern world.
How should you read this text?
- The reader must remember that this is a text written for the stage and because of this dramatic techniques should be identified when discussing how meaning is shaped by Nowra in Cosi.
- If possible the students should see a production of this play in performance as this will help develop a better appreciation of the physical comedy that forms the basis of the play. The play was made into a film in 1997, with Nowra having written the screen-play. Students should note that the plot has been altered in this version.
- Even though Cosi is a comedy following closely along the lines of a traditional farce, it has a more serious meaning underpinning the humour. Nowra desires to create a piece of art that captures the often ambiguous distinction between sanity and insanity in the modern world. Through humour Nowra encourages the audience to reconsider their own attitudes.
- It is important to remember that this play was written in a different context to the one in which it was set. The student should reflect on why Nowra chose the 70s to set his play and whether this was simply because of his own biography.
Language Matters 