Analytical on Cosi

Louis Nowra’s portrayal of the relationship between Lewis and his world move into a deeper understanding of acceptance throughout the play. Recent graduate Lewis has taken the role of being a director of a play in a mental asylum. At the beginning of the play, he initially took the job in desperation for money. However as the play an advance, Lewis builds relationships with the patients and realizes they are just normal people. As he has a one on one encounter with each patient, he begins to develop a deeper understanding of acceptance.
Nowra’s portrayal of the relationships between Lewis and his world are significantly marginalized in scene 1. Lewis, along with his friend and girlfriend Nick and Lucy enter a mental asylum, an area that was frowned upon in that point in society. He initially agreed to direct the play to gain experience and in desperation for money. In act 1 scene 1 he says: “I need the money, Lucy." implying that he is doing the play for his financial needs and not caring for the patients. This quotation illustrates that Lewis lacks a deep understanding of acceptance as he only cares about the money. Lewis’s deeper understanding of acceptance begins to build up as they play progresses as he has personal encounters with each patient.
As Lewis is an inexperienced director, he is hesitant to control the patients as they intimidated him at the start. One of the patients, Roy believes that he belongs in the theatre and has already prepared for Lewis’s arrival by saying: “Henry’s part of my hand picked team.” This quotation from act 1 scene 1 illustrates the eagerness in Roy on wanting to be in the play and wanting to direct the play. The fact that Roy has already planned a team makes Lewis stunned by it as Roy believes he is better than Lewis at the start. Lewis does not respond, making the audience seem like he is nervous or intimidated by Roy. This adds to lack of understanding of acceptance if Lewis was not afraid of the patients, he would have