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Opera Review

In 18th century Naples, the cynic Don Alfonso discusses the fickle nature of women with two young officers. They maintain that their loves are the epitome of virtue. Alfonso wagers that he will prove them wrong….A few theatrical tricks later, and the constancy of sisters Dorabella and Fiodiligli is proved. Yet contentment lies not in romantic illusion but in accepting things as they are…So runs the plot of Mozart's 1790 comic opera, Cosi Fan Tutte.

Enter Cosi a screwball, Australian comedy set in the 1970s - same set of numbers, only re-scrambled, as a group of in-mates from a Melbourne Asylum plan to stage the opera. Only one, they can't sing, and two, they can't speak Italian. Outside protests rage against the Vietnam War, via a radio. Yet inside rehearsals offer the chance to escape. Cosi mimics its operatic counterpart, yet boundaries include the political as well as the personal.

The lynch-pin to the action is the developing inclusiveness of Lewis, the callow, graduate director, more at home with Brecht than opera, and his off-beat cast. This structures the piece, inter-cut as it is, between rehearsals, breaks and the occasional tripped fuse.

Thematically, Cosi is about the theatre, madness, love, protest and human contact. Set in the after-glow of '60s' radicalism, the spectrum of psychological disorders challenges our perception. We encounter the bipolar ringleader Roy, (Edmund Dehn), who believes 'that the music of this opera keeps the world in harmony'; the pyromaniac Doug, 'go burn a cat'; the obsessed-compulsive, Ruth; the infantilised, food-faddist Cherry, an effervescent Maggie Daniels; Julie the junkie; Harry the Silent; and Zac, the burnt out Valkyrie-clad accordion-player. Each has their moment.

They are a richly-textured group and Nowra deliberately makes them so. In this way we grow along with Lewis' deepening perspective. And like the two episodes where we are plunged into darkness, we learn to adjust our normal settings and accept reality for what it is. As Ruth pinpoints: 'the more real it is, the more real it is'…….
Nowra's 1992, semi-autobiographical play is witty, sharp and perspicacious. It delivers some cracking lines which just dazzle: 'making history is the stuff that grows on cheese' or 'a madman is someone who goes to a fancy dress party in the emperor's new clothes' and 'I was a lady-killer in my time…..literally.'
The play makes side-swipes at theatre, love, men and women but not for a cheap gag. Similarly, the characterisations, some brilliantly realised, explore the nuances of character to reveal the human underneath. In this, the quiet intensity of Sophie Brabenec's Ruth and David Price's Henry stand out.

The play is self-referential, deliberately so, and is reminiscent of Timberlake Wertenbaker's 1980s' play Our Country's Good. The feisty character of Cherry is like a latter-day Dabby Bryant; the rookie director turned actor, Lewis, who falls for Julie, parallels Ralph. Similarly, both texts have a play within a play structure, both use an eighteen century text as a reference point and both are set in Australia.

Sparkling direction from Adam Spreadbury-Maher engages the audience throughout, ably served by designer Cherry Trulluck, whose derelict set mirrors the characters' existence, as well as hinting at the ominous presence of Doug, through burnt wood and charred remains.

Spreadbury-Maher has coaxed some fine performances from his cast too: the character of Doug, Nathan Lang, is finely judged, as is the very real performance of Shelley Lang as Julie. The drollery of Cameron Harris' Zac, 'Wagner's got balls' through to the contrasting characters of Nick the student radical turned MP, and the patronising social worker Justin, both played by Hamish MacDougall. Matthew Burton, as the hapless director, Lewis, cements the action. Yet they each do a fine job.

With a sound-score of songs like 'Build me up Buttercup', 'My Sweet Lord' and 'Wild Thing' to add a period, humorous counterpoint, and edgy strip lighting, both designed by Phil Hewitt, Cosi is a night to remember. Radical '70's it may be, but its' heart is now……