Così

Lewis Riley, a university student is given the task of directing a play in an asylum. At first he is happy to direct, but upon arrival to the theatre space where he is to meet his actors and to begin the creative process, he realises that perhaps he has taken on a bit too much for his own good. The theatre is old, burned and has a great big hole in the ceiling. None the less, he is given a pep talk by the program’s social worker, and introduced to Roy, a patient, but also a theatre enthusiast with a passionate drive to bring culture to the asylum. He immediately takes charge of the project, and makes a unilateral decision to perform Mozart’s Così fan tutte, much to Lewis’ protest.

The group of actors Lewis has to direct are: Roy, a manic-depressive; Ruth, obsessed with distinguishing ‘pretend’ scenarios from reality; Julie, an attractive drug addict; Cherry, love-struck by Lewis, and overly sexual; Doug, a pyromaniac; Zac, a high musician and Henry, an ex lawyer, who now just sits silently in a corner. As Lewis is outside of his element (completely), and the social worker has abandoned him – assuring him all will be just fine – Lewis finds that he must let go of his original plans and simply go with the flow.

Lewis’ girlfriend Lucy and best friend Nick, who are very much into politics and strong opposers of the Vietnam war, don’t understand why he needs to go through with his commitment to the asylum, when there are so many ‘more important’ things he could be doing. They are very disappointed in his insistence to continue with his project. Lewis manages to continue directing the play, and though this process he gains a different perspective of the world.

Così, though set in the 1970s (during the Vietnam War time), is relevant to today’s issues as well; from the war in the middle east to the problems of racism and lack of tolerance in our society. Sitting through the play, I realised that, no matter what time we live in and how much we think our society has progressed, we find ourselves right back where our parents were decades ago. It seems that the cycle does not want to break. What were problems then, continue to be now.

Eagle’s Next Theatre, production of Così is impactful. The asylum patients are portrayed quite accurately, or at least as one would imagine them to be. The patients are from different wards, so they are a potpourri of characters... loud, confused, angry, irrational and angst ridden; all emotions which were conveyed quite realistically by the actors involved, so much so that I began to feel somewhat uneasy when Doug the pyromaniac would strut, glare and burst out his dialogue at us.

The mood communicated by the play was one of helplessness, as well as one of hope. I walked away with a message of ‘make the best of life’. The patients in Così, though consumed by their own inner demons and in subdued living conditions taught Lewis how to look past his limited views of life, and I guess they did their job on me too... proof of a great performance by talented individuals.

Così
by Louis Nowra

tickets: $27 / 17