Cosi

What an interesting topic for a play – residents of a mental asylum decide to put on a version of Mozart’s opera Cosi fan tutte. It is not hard to imagine what comes to pass and how it benefits so many of the patients and, particularly, Lewis the character who comes to try to achieve the impossible.

Set in a mental institution in Melbourne in the 1970’s, this is semi-biographical from Nowra’s own experiences of doing a musical with similar patients. He has always claimed that the experience was great for him and he reflects that in how it changes the life of Lewis who manages the opera - also for the better. The other main characters cover a wide spectrum and include Roy, a manic depressive with a passion for theatre; Cherry, who has a food obsession and is a Lewis addicted romantic; Ruth, suffering from OCD and shown to be obsessed with counting, while not sure of illusion or reality; Doug, a pyromaniac; Judy, a drug addict in the outside world; Henry, an older silent man; and Zac, a drugged up pianist.

The end-product matched the expectations that could only be imagined with a free-flowing night of entertainment under the very good direction of Susan O’Toole Gridland. On the relatively small stage, events flowed freely with the interaction of the cast good. Two performers stood out in particular. Firstly, John Stibbard was the driving force for the group and his manic depression came to the fore.  Also up there for a consistently good portrayal was Izabella Wasilewski in the role of Cherry, the sexual food obsessive. Sandra Harman (Ruth) must have got tired of counting her steps and hand gestures as her OCD came out.  The remaining cast members worked so well together but Lewis could have been a little more decisive at times.

The emotions of the audience ranged from worry and despair to raucous laughter as the time swiftly passed. This was a good night at the theatre. Very well done.

William Davies