The castle

CosiA play is the act of performing or the state of being performed in front of an audience. Plays can be used to explore ideas and express the option of the play writer. To draw the audience into the world of the play the play writer uses visual techniques such as , lighting, sound, stage setting, costume and makeup, gestures and mime, along with language techniques and the use of themes and the scene of the play. The play writer Louis Nowra draws his audience into the world of the play with the use of many of the theatrical techniques previously discussed. He is very effective in creating characters on stage who we empathise with. The audience is cleverly manipulated by Nowra to identify Lewis??™s problems as he tries to meet the challenge of directing the patients in ??? Cosi Fan Tutte???.

The In the first scene Nowra uses the effect of lighting techniques ??? pitch black inside???, the lights are then turned on and ??? a chink of daylight enters??? this use of lighting helps create suspense within the theatre drawing the audience towards the characters as they enters the building. Nowra with the use of the sound technique then uses silence on page 2 ??? the lights go on. A dismal hall is revealed. A silence as they stare at one another.??? Show confusion between the characters, influencing the audience to think and draw their thoughts into the play. Also In the first scene Nowra creates dramatic tension as he introduces Lewis to all the main characters such as Doug who is very rude, sarcastic and intrusive ??? that??™s deep, but it would be good, wouldn??™t it Throwing rocks at cops, overturing cars, smashing barricades, burning houses???. This leaves the audience thinking what is going to happen next. Early in the play Roy appears to be a very full-on character, dominant personality, enthusiastic about producing ??? Cosi???.

He refers to Lewis as ??? Jerry??? he sees himself as Dean Martin. Roy is pushy and doesn??™t take ??? no??™ for an answer, ??? come on Jerry, let??™s get this show on the road.??? Roy likes to think he is in control of everything and everyone around him he is especially over confident when criticising Lewis??™ direction, ??? you do have a few teething problems with your direction!!??? This shows that has no respect for Lewis. Nowra revels many serious issues or themes in his play about the ??? inmates??? of a psychiatric hospital. However a theme is a major issue or aspect of life which is dealt with.

One of the main concerns of ??? Cosi??? as it is of ??? Cosi Fan Tutte???, is the issue of Attitudes to mental illness and the need for tolerance .??? Cosi??? is obviously a play about a group of mad people but when the audience examines their personalities, we find that they are disturbed they are certainly not that different from the supposedly ??? normal??™ people. It is as if we see them the same wishes and fears that we all share. The play shows us a group of people whose on reality has broken down and while we may laugh, we should not consider ourselves so superior as many of their weaknesses are ours.

Both Nick and Lucy behave in an arrogant and insensitive way towards the patients. Neither sees Lewis??™ project as having any validity. They don??™t recognise that the patients have feelings and needs that are important. Nicks comment on page 41 about the play show his cynicism, ??? only mad people in the day and age would do a work about love and infidelity, they??™re definitely mad. (Softly singing) They??™re coming to take me away ha, ha, to the funny farm??¦. Lucy shows her contempt for both Lewis and Julie when she says, ??? You??™re screwing a mental patient She obviously feels that Lewis??™ experience has been a waste of time, though we see that it has helped Lewis become a mature and independent person.

Justin??™s impersonal and pretentious early comments are superficial and show that he lacks any real understanding of mental illness and has little empathy with the patients this is show when Justin says, ??? They are normal people who have done extraordinary things, thought extraordinary thoughts.??? His reference to the patients as ??? them??? shows how little he cares in spite of his do-gooder claims, ??? The important thing is to keep them interested. To bring them out of their shells. To give them something interesting to do.??? While a lot of the humour from their comments, and they do at times, show concern for each other, their unkind comments do, to a certain extent, reflect the comments and attitudes of Lucy and Nick. Even though the performance of ??? Cosi Fan Tutte??? is amateurish and full of foolish mistakes it would have been amusing and entertaining to watch. The scene is also very colourful because of costumes, hats, plots and the music.

Audiences generally love to see a romantic relationship in a story or a play. However Lewis??™ behaviour and his final remarks reveal that Julie??™s flirtation with him would never amount to a long term relationship. His final monologue to the audience is rather poignant but a realistic way to end Nowra??™s entertaining play. In conclusion I fell that Louis Nowra, the playwright, has drawn his audience into the world of his entertaining play, ??? Cosi???.

The ways he has done this have included by having an interesting story line.