Cosi

ENGLISH NOTES-COSI Orientating activities Who is Louis Nowra' * Louis Nowra has established himself in the forefront of Australian theatre both in cultural prestige and, increasingly, commercial success * Nowra has over this vigorous period sustained a prolific output and is even now only in mid-career. His theatre has both charted national concerns and challenged main stage aesthetic practices * The crisis of a settler nation- Aboriginal dispossession, and Australia’s involvement in imperial wars from the Western Front to Vietnam- are expressed in plays of comic energy and disturbing potency * The Golden Age (1985) confirmed Nowra as our foremost dramatic non-naturalist and anatomist of the complex interconnections and cross- identifications of Australian colonised and colonisers * Cosi, Nowra’s most celebratory play cannibalising aristocratic culture, is perversely set in a 1970s Melbourne madhouse * Towards evil and suffering, of which his plays show many examples, Nowra’s detachment likewise, precludes easy horror and easy judgements alike. The urbane poise of the high comic vision is celebrated amidst the improvisational chaos of Cosi wherein obssessional and over-medicated asylum inmates rehearse and produce Mozart’s opera * Nowra’s early characters are typically the oppressed, the underdog, the racially marginalised and the mentally damaged. His theatre explores the rich and frightening ‘jungle’ of the human mind: its wilful intensity, its blinding visions, its creative adaptability, its terrors, suffering and its durability * Such plays deal with survivors of post – colonial Australia’s legacies of class inequality, imperial racism, indigenous dispossession and the cultural displacements and hybridisations of a multicultural migrant society THE MORATORIUM, 1970: SAVE OUR SONS * A Gallup poll in August 1969 showed that 55 per cent of people favoured bringing Australian troops home and 40 per cent favoured them staying. This was the first poll to show less than 50 per cent approval for the government’s policy, and all polls after August 1969 were to reveal a majority in favour at bringing the troops home * The ALP returned to the debate. In October during his policy speech for 1969 federal elections, Whitlam declared that under a Labor Government there would be no Australian troops in Vietnam after June 1970 THE MORATORIUM MOVEMENT AND THE END OF THE VIETNAM WAR * By 1970, the Vietnam War had become the longest war in which Australia had ever been involved. The anti-war movement had grown from small demonstrations into huge rallies, marchers, sit-ins, church services and candlelight vigils * The people who took part were not all political and social radicals. Many ordinary Australians were coming out in opposition to the war. The moratorium rallies were an outpouring of that support with huge numbers of people taking to the streets to demonstrate the strength and power behind the anti-war movement. They believed if they could prove there was enough popular support for withdrawing from Vietnam, then the government would have to listen * The Australian moratoriums were organised by representatives of the major anti-war groups in the aftermath of the My Lai massacre coming to light and the defeat of the Labor Party in the best 1969 and announced than an Australian moratorium would be held in May the following year. Its aims were twofold: firstly, to force a withdrawal of Australian and other foreign troops from Vietnam and secondly, to repeal the National Service Act. 1964 (Cth) * The moratoriums were a turning point in the anti-war movement in Australia as it was the first time that there would be a nationwide response to Vietnam. TYPES OF MENTAL ISSUES EXPLORED IN THE PLAY Emotionally and Physically insular (Henry) * Not close to others: physically or emotionally removed from others * Impulse Control Disorder (ICD) * When someone has an impulse control disorder it means that they experience irresistible urges to carry out a particular behaviour which will result in feelings of relief or pleasure. Afterwards they may experience a period of guilt or remorse Pyromania (compulsive fire-setting) Pyromania is more compulsive than impulsive; it requires that the person set more than one deliberate fire that is also a destructive fire. It consists of a strong arousal before and pleasure or tension reduction after the act. The fire setting is at expression of anger, vengeance, personal gain, or psychosis. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Type of anxiety disorder involving two elements: obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are repetitive unwanted thoughts that make you feel anxious. Compulsions are repetitive behaviours and rituals COSI In the play Cosi, by Louis Nowra, the characters are developed in a way that they help the reader or viewer grasp an understanding of the main issues dealt with. This is also achieved by some of the characters remaining static throughout the play, that is, they do not develop greatly or change in a way that will affect their attitudes and values and view on the issues presented. Issues of society’s perception of the mentally ill, and attitudes toward the Vietnam war in 1971 are presented to the audience through the development of Henry, a non-speaking mental patient whose father fought against communism in Korea and Lewis, the director of the play who is lured to the task by the money, but finds there is much more to be learnt about these patients. Static characters also help the reader or audience to understand these issues, such as Nick and Lucy, whose sole focus is protest against the Vietnam War, and support the communist organisation, and Vietcong. Nowra has skilfully developed these characters to help the audience to clearly understand these issues concerning the mentally ill, love and the Vietnam War Henry is a character who develops dramatically throughout the play, from being non-speaking and submissive to repulsive The way in which characters are developed or left static helps the reader or viewer to understand the main issues of society’s perception of the mentally ill and attitudes toward the Vietnam War. These days, one in five people will develop a mental illness, so this understanding of the patients in Cosi is important, and we can relate it to how we treat each other in society. This is similar with the attitudes displayed by the patients and Nick and Lucy toward the Vietnam War. These days, the war against Iraq is looming near, and people all over the world are protesting against it, trying to achieve peace, just as Lucy and Nick were, but there are also people who can be associated with Henry, people who think that it is best to go to war to prevent harm coming to the rest of the world. Nowra has carefully constructed the characters of Henry, Lewis, Nick and Lucy to give the reader or viewer a strong understanding of how mentally ill people are and should be perceived, and presents different ideas and attitudes toward the Vietnam War, whilst being able to engage the reader or viewer in this play. Lewis is the director of the play, and is hesitant at first due to the fact that these people are mad, but as his character develops, he finds that they are normal people, with some different needs. In the beginning, Lewis only takes up the position as director for the money that will result. This is seen in a negative manner, and reader or viewer is given the impression that Lewis classes himself far away from these people, showing the lack of acceptance in society of the mentally ill. This is also shown on page 2, when Roy introduces himself to Lewis as a patient whilst Nick and Lucy are present. As soon as this is known to Nick and Lucy that Roy is a patient, they quickly find an excuse to leave, despite having promised to help Lewis with the play. In this instance, Nick and Lucy represent society outside the asylum, and demonstrate this negative attitude toward the mentally ill. The first time that Lewis really views the patients as normal people is during his conversation with Julie, a drug addict, from page 32 to 33. Julie engages Lewis in conversation of men’s attitude toward women ACT ONE SCENE ONE QUOTES Lewis: “I need the money Lucy” Lucy: “I can’t believe you’re going to do a show here” Nick: “Mad actors are bad enough, but madmen...” Lucy: “I have to go now. See you at home, Lewis” Roy: “I was expecting someone a bit older” “We’ll be like Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin” Justin: “He loves the theatre Apparantley. A great enthusiast when he gets going. He has his down periods like a lot of people, but he’s your support, your natural energiser.” “You must feel a bit queasy. I know I was when I first came to work in an asylum.” “The thing is, and you’ll discover this, is that they are just normal people, well not quite normal, or else they wouldn’t be here would they'” “They are normal people who have done extraordinary things, thought extraordinary thoughts.” “Whenever this place gets too much for me, I always think of this definition- a madman is someone who arrives at a fancy dress party in the Emperor’s new clothes.” Roy: “Yes. Yes. But there’s another twist. Guglielmo’s girlfriend falls for Ferrando and vice versa. Anyway, the boys reveal their disguises and things right themselves and Don Alfonso is proved right.” Lewis: “Love is not so important nowadays.” Roy: “What planet are you from'” “It’s all in my head. Without this, the world wouldn’t be the same. It would break, like a voice in despair shattering glass. There is the harmony of the spheres and that harmony is Mozart’s music, Cosi Fan Tutte. The music of opera keeps the world in harmony. ACT ONE SCENE TWO QUOTES Roy: “I aim for the stars Jerry, is that such a bad thing'” Interviewer: “How many people do you think there will be at the moratorium, Nick'” Nick: “Well, Tom at a rough guess, I’d say twenty thousand.” Interviewer: “And for a left wing person like you, what does it mean'” Nick: “It means that these people, even the middle class will be radicalised by seeing how many of us are against them. They’ll know that to be against the Vietnam War is also to be against the old fossilised government we now have. They’ll want the war to end, they’ll want changes in our society, and they’ll want to overthrow the establishment.” Interviewer: “By overthrow, you don’t mean like what happened in Paris, in 1968'” Nick: “Barricades and bombs' Why not' Australians, especially young Australians of my age, are getting fed up with our society. We want changes and we want them now!” Lewis: “Christ Nick!” “No I’ve heard it all before. Nick’s a friend. He has only one problem; he likes the sound of his own voice.” Doug: “You believe in free love and that sort of thing' Lewis: “Free love is a hard concept to define” Doug: “I believe in free love but it’s hard to practise it in here.” “I’m not prying or anything am I' It’s just that in here you miss out on a lot of changes in society’s morals.” “Women like to pretend they don’t play around but they’re just more secretive about it. They don’t brag about it like men.” “Don’t. Dad always said to me: you can always find loneliness in a marriage, but never solitude. And I like my solitude.” “...but you probably know that being university educated.” Cherry: “If it’s going to be a large role then I’ll invite my dad. He’ll be surprised to see me out of water. Dad was a great duck hunter. But we were poor and couldn’t afford a dog. He used me to point and fetch the duck. Those lakes can get cold when you’re swimming in them with a dead duck in your mouth. Just pulling your leg, sucked you right in didn’t I, you know I really like you.” ACT ONE SCENE THREE QUOTES Justin: “No no nothing, the experiment is over. I don’t think you’re up to it. You understand what I am saying, Lewis' This experiment was to bring them out of their shells, not to allow them to wreak havoc. Now the position of a social worker in an asylum can be precarious. This does not look good for me or you does it'” “Sorry is such an easy word to say. You don’t want great disasters do you'” “Straight out of university and...Well, this is probably the best education: doing theatre, working with such people. You couldn’t learn this at university. You know why, because it’s about people!” Roy: “Giving in straight away does not set a good precedent.” “For your own good. Look Henry, you’re a failure, as a human being as a lawyer. Cosi offers you a chance to do something successful at least once in your dismal life.” Lewis: “Roy, no one is a success or a failure.” Roy: “Tell that to the failures of this world.” Henry: “Rrroy is right.” Ruth: “Another illusion. Do you want me to give an illusionary performance too'” “We’re in an illusion of a garden, carrying an illusion of tiny paintings, so shall I sit down and pretend I am acting'” “You’re doing a fine job of messing with my head.” Julie: “Bit over the shop today. I had to go and see one of the shrinks. They don’t know how to deal with drug users. He called it a ‘crutch’; I said it was a ‘rocket to the stars’. Needless to say, we didn’t get on. I’m surprised to see you here. I thought you wouldn’t come back. They still scare you'” Lewis: “My grandmother went mad. I went once to the asylum to see her. In her mind she was living in the year before I was born. She thought I was Eric, my father. And he just married my mum and she was about to have me.” “I liked my grandmother, she had gone mad, but she was still my grandmother.” “Lucy’s not into marriage” “We sometimes talk about commitment” “She’s into politics she hates talk about love. She thinks it’s icky. ‘Love is the last grasp of bourgeois romanticism’ she says. She hates me doing an opera about love and fidelity while thousands of Vietnamese are being killed by American troops.” Julie: “Do you trust men not to play around'” “Flesh and blood. Women are flesh and blood too- that’s what the opera says doesn’t it'” “I don’t like men’s double standards I guess.” Cherry: “...when I read the word’s that Henry says: ‘Woman’s constancy is like the Phoenix of Arabia. Everyone swears it exists but no one has seen it.’ By the way, I think your translation is wonderful. Do you believe women are like that' That they aren’t true and faithful' I am. With someone like you I could be true and faithful.” ACT ONE SCENE FOUR QUOTES Roy: “Oh I get it; if the production had been a success it was all because of you. If it had flopped, it wasn’t your fault. How very, very directorial. Like Hitler, ‘Oh God, you mean to tell me we’re fighting on the Russian front and we’re losing' Why didn’t someone tell me we had three million troops in Russia'’ But I won’t go on; you’ll probably put me in a closed ward.” Julie: “What gave you that idea' My parents had me committed. They think it’s sort of like a holiday. Those dirty white and olive walls give me the heebie jeebies, they really do. Cosi gave me something to think about, something to do. See I’m happy coming to this burnt out theatre.” Nick: “Only mad people in this day and age would do a work about love and infidelity. They’re definitely mad.” Henry: “Traitors! Traitors! Traitors!” Cherry: “You’re always the last to know things in an asylum.” Henry: “Do not swear! I do not work with traitors. Australia is at War against communists...and you stab my father in the back.” “This Cosi condones the corruption of innocence.” “Women are told to be tramps. Free love. Women are not to be trusted.” Lewis: “I wasn’t making fun of you by dressing up Guglielmo and Ferrando as Albanian communists. I just thought it was funny, that’s all. I thought it was funny that they disguised themselves as communists, seeing it’s a world of aristocrats. And the women: that’s what the opera’s about. Whether love is an unswerving emotion and whether women can remain true. It’s a comedy.” ACT TWO SCENE ONE QUOTES Julie: “Love is being foolish” “I’ve always thought that love was being foolish and stupid. It’s about being on the edge and I like being on the edge. It’s not divine madness like some people think, there’s no such thing as divine madness, madness is just madness. Love is hallucinating without drugs.” Roy: “Love is what you feel when you don’t have enough emotion left to hate.” ACT TWO SCENE TWO QUOTES Lucy: “Working with these people has changed you. We used to talk about things. Important things. Now all you can talk about is reactionary drivel like Cosi Fan Tutte.” Lewis: “It’s about important things, like love and fidelity.” Lucy: “Love is an emotional indulgence for the privileged few.” Lewis: “Without love the world wouldn’t mean much.” ACT TWO SCENE FIVE QUOTES Lewis: “There was no next year. This theatre mysteriously burnt down a week after the performance and Doug was a major suspect. I shifted house soon after Cosi and so I only got one love letter from Cherry, who told me to think of her every time I played with the flick knife. Lucy and Nick' Well they didn’t last long as both were not into fidelity. Lucy became and academic and Nick became Labour MP in the Upper House. Ruth left the institution to become a time and motion expert. Henry' He died soon after Cosi. Roy' He went from ward to ward after his fellow patients took up petitions to get rid of him. By the following year I was in Sydney and not long after I saw Julie’s name in the paper. She had died of a drug overdose. And Zac' He left the asylum and founded a rock and roll group called the Psychotic Wagners. They had a minor hit. A few years later I heard he started a polka band which was very big in Melbourne German and Austrian club circuit. Time to turn out the lights.”