Louis Nowra's "Cosi" is a beautiful example of how art can transform the lives and souls of human beings. Set in a mental institution, Melbourne, 1971, the play is about a young university drop out, Lewis, who is hired to put on a play at a mental institution. But when one of the patients convinces him to put on, instead, Mozart's opera "Cosi Fan Tutte", their wild journey begins.

Nowra makes the patients' mental disorders big enough to make it suitable for the stage and to reveal a great charge of humanity, honesty, passion that result in a hilarious well structured comedy, with characters and situations that are hard to forget.

Nowra also uses a burnt theatre as a metaphor for the Vietnam War and this is also a major issue that is dealt with in the play.

"Cosi" is a very interesting piece of theatre, that left me very satisfied.

I had to read this book as part of my Senior English course, and knowing more than one mentally ill person - one of whom is currently living in a mental health clinic - I found that Nowra's portrayal of mental illness is not quite true. Only very rarely does someone suffer so badly from mental illness that they appear similar to the characters in "Cosi". Nowra's portayal of these patient's has been greatly exaggerated for theatrical purposes, and I just want people to be aware of that as many people I know who have read this book have simply assumed that all mentally ill people deserve to be locked away for fear of them hurting others. This is an incorrect assumption.

this book is ok, and banned in one country, guess

Having both studied this text and performed it on stage I am very familiar with it, and can honestly give it a 5/5 rating. Nowra has written a riotous comedy set in a mad house, obviously exaggerating his characters, but in such a colourful play this is essential to the comic value. Although essentially a comedy the deeper themes of love, fidelity, sanity and compassion are poignant but not overbearing, so although the readers/audience has a hell of a fun ride, one still comes away with a changed perspective. The warning from the reviewer above misses the point of this play somewhat - Nowra's purpose is not to make fun of or mock the patients, or to highlight their dangerousness; rather it is to show the extent of Lewis' compassionate involvement and 'journey' throughout. Cosi is a extremely funny yet very relevant script which gets my 100% seal of approval. Get it!