Cosi - Insanity
The 1970’s was a time of change for many issues however mental illnesses and how the mentally ill were seen by society were not one of these issues and were still seen negatively by most people. In Louis Nowra’s play Cosi a range of techniques are used to engage the audience by exploring certain characters and themes that were significant to Louis Nowra. Contrast and settings are important in exploring the theme of insanity, while characterisation and dialogue reveal what type of person one of the mental patients, Zac, is.
The play is set in the 1970’s in a Melbourne mental institution. The setting of the mental institution is important to Nowra because it was about the time when he had both grandmothers in mental institutions ad would often visit. The setting of the burnt out, faulty, leaking theatre is important as it reflects the state of the metal patients. Just like the theatre can still be used, Nowra explores the concept of the mentally ill still being a part of society.
While there is a fine line between sane and insane the contrast between the outside world and life inside the asylum is significant in the play. This contrast is shown with the difference in Lewis’s behaviour and speech compared to those of the mental asylum, like when Doug was explaining why he ended up in the institution and the burning of his mothers cats, Doug doesn’t see it as anything and that it wasn’t his fault where as Lewis is quite shocked and has ever heard of anything like this before. The transistor radio used by Lewis allows the outside world to be brought into the theatre full of mental patients.
The characterisation of Zac is a dramatic technique because it allows the audience to see what type of person he is. Zac has been in and out of institutions his whole life due to being unable to cope with reality, this is shown when he says to Cherry “ I can’t stand real things. If I could put up with reality I wouldn’t be here”. The first impression we get of Zac is in
The play is set in the 1970’s in a Melbourne mental institution. The setting of the mental institution is important to Nowra because it was about the time when he had both grandmothers in mental institutions ad would often visit. The setting of the burnt out, faulty, leaking theatre is important as it reflects the state of the metal patients. Just like the theatre can still be used, Nowra explores the concept of the mentally ill still being a part of society.
While there is a fine line between sane and insane the contrast between the outside world and life inside the asylum is significant in the play. This contrast is shown with the difference in Lewis’s behaviour and speech compared to those of the mental asylum, like when Doug was explaining why he ended up in the institution and the burning of his mothers cats, Doug doesn’t see it as anything and that it wasn’t his fault where as Lewis is quite shocked and has ever heard of anything like this before. The transistor radio used by Lewis allows the outside world to be brought into the theatre full of mental patients.
The characterisation of Zac is a dramatic technique because it allows the audience to see what type of person he is. Zac has been in and out of institutions his whole life due to being unable to cope with reality, this is shown when he says to Cherry “ I can’t stand real things. If I could put up with reality I wouldn’t be here”. The first impression we get of Zac is in