Così

by Louis Nowra

‘Nowra has written a terrific play about theatre, madness, illusion, sanity, it’s a big, splendidly Australian epic.’ — Frank Gauntlett, Telegraph Mirror Set in 1971, Così is Louis Nowra’s second semi-autobiographical play. Lewis has recently left university and takes up a job in a mental institution directing Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte. Lewis, the non-participant, becomes emotionally involved with his actors’ lives as his operatic production lurches forward and anti-Vietnam protests take place in the streets outside. ‘Nowra’s generous humour offers up a world of the most extraordinary, ordinary people; and a hilarious situation comedy to boot … [but there are] hints of a darkness that lies beyond the the real world.’ — Angela Bennie, Sydney Morning Herald

Genres: Plays, School, Theatre, Fiction, Read For School, Drama, Historical Fiction

137 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Louis Nowra (born 12 December 1950) is an Australian writer, playwright, screenwriter and librettist. His most significant plays are Così, Byzantine Flowers, Summer of the Aliens, Radiance, and The Golden Age. In 2007 he completed the The Boyce Trilogy for Griffin Theatre Company, consisting of The Woman with Dog's Eyes, The Marvellous Boy and The Emperor of Sydney. Many of his plays have been filmed.[1]
He was born as Mark Doyle in Melbourne. He changed his name to Louis Nowra in the early 1970s. He studied at Melbourne's La Trobe University without earning a degree. In his memoir, The Twelfth of Never, Nowra claimed that he left the course due to a conflict with his professor on Patrick White's The Tree of Man. He worked in several jobs and lived an itinerant lifestyle until the mid-1970s when his plays began to attract attention.
His radio plays include Albert Names Edward, The Song Room, The Widows and the five part The Divine Hammer aired on the ABC in 2003.[2]
In March 2007, Nowra published a controversial book on violence in Aboriginal communities, Bad Dreaming.
Nowra has been studied extensively in Veronica Kelly's work The Theatre of Louis Nowra.
He resides in Sydney with his wife, author Mandy Sayer.

From Wikipedia

Reviews

[Sarah Ryland]

Reading this play out loud in class was certainly interesting with all the swear words and inappropriate jokes Hahahaha

[Liz]

Most painful thing I had to read for the HSC

[Reviews.with.Bianca]

⭐️ 1.5

Utterly confusing. I studied this with my Year 11 class and, honestly, I still don’t see the point. It’s essentially a play about a play, filled with constant dialogue (which, yes, I get—that’s theatre), but it feels like it goes nowhere.

While I can recognise themes of infidelity and a few interesting characters, there’s little substance or clear purpose driving it all. It felt disjointed and, at times, just frustrating to unpack.

It had potential to be much more impactful, but it didn’t land for me. Definitely not something I’d choose to study again.

[Ghostly Writer]

REVIEW TO COME.

[bea :)]

i read this for school it really captures the mentally ill australian experience
my favourite line: "i need a fuck"

[Sumekha]

I love exploring lesser-known books with intriguing stories, and I'm glad that this one was a delightful find! The patients from the mental institution bring natural humor to the play, not to mock their conditions but because their responses to various situations are genuinely charming in their own distinctive ways. The character development of every actor was impressive, making it both entertaining and meaningful.

I admire how this emphasizes the value of love and friendship over the chaos of war and politics. It's also intriguing to discover that Mozart supported the belief that only women were capable of infidelity, but this play proves otherwise.

I'm not sure if there's still a live performance of this play, but it would be a dream come true to watch it someday.There's a lot more to it to analyze, and I look forward to re-reading this for a better understanding of each character. I loved it so muchhhhh.

[Archie]

Really great storytelling. Loved it.

[Kimberley]

Fun

[Emily]

What a great play to be set as a Year 12 VCE text- playing psychoanalyst to these dysfunctional thespians and their love/lack of love is an enjoyable discussion to say the least.

[Michaela]

Funnier than expected but took re-reading it outside a school setting to fully appreciate how good it is.

[Lilly]

Gives insight into reality vs. insanity.

[MaeReadABook (Mae Walker)]

3.9 stars
I liked this. It has that Australian blue melancholy vibe. Very interesting cast of characters (ofc given it's mostly a mad house), but I feel like the amount of them made it feel a kinda overly packed??
Definitely one to see on stage, I think it would make for a great show. I also have not seen the film, so might dip into that.
The one bit I'm really unsure about is the epilogue that Lewis gives at the end. The layered bluff of a theatre show in a theatre with a stage set as a theatre about people putting on a theatre show--but then stripped away in that breaking of the fourth wall. Obviously very intentional, but I feel like it makes it hard for us to just be allowed to sit with the characters, and especially Lewis when he does this post show exposition. Like even without all the extra story, it leaves us with some heavy implications for the characters as is.
Anyway, I do think this was intentional, and I am keen to study the text a bit more and form my options further.
Plus, I have some short scenes to do from this which should be fun.

[Larissa]

Show the perspective of the 70s in Australia with the theme of mental illnesses and how the author used his real life experiences to write this play. My thoughts are also more in depth because I studied it but there is a lot of things that some may not notice. First is that Louis (the author) named Lewis (the character) after himself to show his connection and that this story is based on his life, and could also mean that Louis wrote Lewis to be like him and act like him. Second all of the characters are flawed with the chance to redeem themselves but because of the time and the conditions the characters are in some don’t redeem themselves, which when you break this down and talk about the key ideas of the play you know that some of the characters want to change and some of them do, but the ones who don’t either try and fail or know how to change but just don’t for their own reasons.

[Talea Foley]

Recommended read to anyone in love with Australian novels, theatre and exposing misconceptions.
An eye-opening dive into a 1970’s Australian institution for the “clinically ill” attempting to execute one of Mozart’s most beautiful works.
Funny and thought provoking as to what is “normal”?

[Zoe]

Not quite a 4, but more than 3. I was in a production of it as Lewis.

[Teagan]

A well loved Aussie play that warms the heart and scratches the head.

[Izzy]

I enjoyed this so much... UNTIL THE LAST PARAGRAPH... WHAT!
I mean I still loved that part so...
read this
it's quick and beautiful, witty and thought-provoking <3

[Ella]

Reading plays is always a bit weird, but to be honest this one was very easy to follow and worked quite well as a book - if not better, having looked up a few recordings of bits of it afterwards!

[Denise&#x1f380;&#x1f340;]

3 stars

[Mason]

my head is fuzzy

[aj]

absolutely amazing, loved it

[femcel fatale]

nothing says peak highschool english like waiting for the quiet, never-say-a-curse girl to read the lines with FUCK in them when it's her turn (she didn't say it 😔)

[alexia]

not a book I would usually read (genre wise) but is pretty interesting and I would recommend it to those up for something different!

[Alisa Mirabella]

A great play. Great Characters to develop

[Ash]

Generally funny!! Studied this novel for English.

[Annabelle Caruso]

So basically everyone just kisses and sleeps with each other and it’s fine.
(Put some respect on Mozart’s name.)
Also why the hell are there bare feet on my cover?? Sigh, who allowed this?

[Tilly Maclennan]

cute

[ari]

Book I read for drama class.

[shana]

"That’s what love is, being foolish."

Maybe it was very messy and quite literally full of insanity, but I can’t say it wasn’t awfully entertaining.

[summer ⊹₊⟡⋆]

read this for english and i was pretty invested, it has great themes