Doug

Male | 20s | under 3 minutes
Starts on page 21

EXTRACT: It was the fault of the psychiatrist. I'd been seeing him because of my pyromania - that's a person who likes lighting fires - but you probably know that, being university educated. You know the problem with pyromania? It's the only crime where you have to be at the scene of it to make it a perfect crime, to give yourself full satisfaction. 'Course, that means the chances of you getting caught are greater, especially if you're standing in front of the fire, face full of ecstasy and with a gigantic hard-on.

Roy

Male | 60+ | under 3 minutes
Starts on page 0

EXTRACT: Sometimes a vision is destroyed. [A beat] I had a dream, Jerry, and it is fading. There would be music, music of the spheres, colorful costumes, joie de vive, a world that was as far removed from this depressing asylum as possible. A world that was like my childhood: tea parties, dances in our ballroom, circus performers coming to perform just for me.

Lewis

Male | 20s | under 3 minutes
Starts on page 0

EXTRACT: [Addressing the audience]. There was no next year. This theatre mysteriously burnt down a week after the performance and Doug was the major suspect. I shifted house soon after COSI and so I only got one love letter from Cherry, who told me to think of her every time I played with the flick knife. Lucy and Nick? Well they didn't last long as both were not into fidelity.

BARRY OTTO TALKS ABOUT COSI

WHEELER CENTRE

Video of Barry Otto talking about Louis Nowra's Cosi at Texts in the City in 2011, as part of Melbourne's UNESCO City of Literature Initiative. Drawing on his experience of playing colourful manic-depressive character Roy, the discussion covers the text’s political setting, the purity of love and hate and the power of theatre to bring new vitality to the disadvantaged and misunderstood. Otto also reads some notable scenes from the play.

STUDY GUIDE

VCESTUDYGUIDES.COM

A comprehensive analysis of the text, including plot breakdown, essay prompts and study tips. vcestudyguides.com has not been developed by the Victorian Department of Education.

WHAT I WROTE - LOUIS NOWRA

RONIN FILMS

In this DVD, accompanied by a study guide, the writer discusses: key literary figures; development of his ideas and themes; motivation of his characters; adaptation of the texts; dramaturgy and staging of his plays; social and historical context of his plays; inspirational sources for his plays; tips for young writers.

AN INTERVIEW WITH LOUIS NOWRA (PDF DOWNLOAD)

GERRY TURCOTTE, KUNAPIPI, 1987, VOLUME 9, NUMBER 3, PAGES 51-67

Perfecting the Monologue of Silence: An Interview with Louis Nowra. This is an edited version of an interview conducted at The University of Sydney, 17 December 1987

TEACHERS' NOTES: COSI

PERFORMANCE CUES, 2003

PDF download (758KB) Teachers' Notes for 'Cosi' by Louis Nowra.

INTERVIEW: LOUIS NOWRA (NOT IN PRINT PODCAST)

CURRENCY PRESS, 11 JULY 2013

Not in Print speaks to Australian playwright Louis Nowra about his play 'Cosi'.

AUDIO: TRIAL BY MADMEN (NOT IN PRINT PODCAST)

CURRENCY PRESS, 11 JULY 2013

Louis Nowra introduces his play 'Cosi'.

REVIEW: THERE'S METHOD IN THE MADNESS AT LA BOITE

NATALIE BOCHENSKI, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 14 FEBRUARY 2014

"Cosi is Australian theatre's great take on madness, filtered with a distinctly local sense of place and of humour."