Cosi Essay

729 Words3 Pages
Cosi – Louis Nowra ‘Each patient in Cosi has their own way of escaping reality.’ Discuss. In his play, Louis Nowra creates a way for each patient in the institution to elude themselves from reality. Each patient that Lewis works with in creating the play has their own way of coping while in the institution. Roy for example escapes reality by taking his acting somewhat overly serious for where he is. Both Zac and Julie use their medication to bring themselves to an altered state of consciousness, helping them cope with everyday life in the institution. Although their means of escaping reality is the same, the effect ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’ has on them as an individual differs. For Julie, both medication and Cosi Fan Tutte play a part in helping her live in the ward. Being on ‘junk’ helps her escape from the reality around her, whereas Cosi Fan Tutte helps her escape the somewhat reality that she is overly dependent on drugs in her life and that she has been forcefully committed by her parents into the institution for it. While in the institution Julie uses the comparison of not being on drugs to ‘limbo’, yet she is happy coming to the theatre to act with Lewis and the other patients. Earlier in the play, Julie is not very outspoken or interactive with the group, however after talking to Lewis and telling him that she is enjoying the play she becomes more involved and enjoys her times in the theatre even more. Ultimately her involvement in the play not only causes her to be in “good spirits”, but also takes the opportunity to leave the next week. This posed a challenge for Julie to see if she could cope, and be occupied with her girlfriend and normal life without her dependency on junk. Unfortunately Julie was unable to find stableness in her life and overdosed, showing that her reality could only be escaped to a certain extent, before it had to catch up to her.
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