Directed By:

Produced By: 

Director – Colin MacPherson

Producers – Karen & Trevor Bonanno

Last year, Burlington director/actor, Colin MacPherson and his wife, Gail Beker found themselves in the very enviable position of living both in Canada and Australia. For this theatrical couple it has meant much more than beautiful weather all year round. They realized they were in a unique position, in which they might be able to bring new and exciting Australian plays to Canada, and wonderful Canadian plays to Australia. A bit of a dream come true. The chance to bring some of Canada’s and Australia’s greatest works and playwrights to a fresh new audience was too hard to resist.

Hence Cosi! An Australian smash hit comedy by Sydney-based playwright Louis Nowra. Negotiations began with the playwright and soon the idea of bringing Cosito Canada became a reality.

Cosi is a play about a bunch of inmates in an insane asylum, who, as part of an occupational therapy program, decide to mount a production of Mozart’s opera, Cosi Fan Tutte! A young university graduate is brought in as director, and as one might expect, madness ensues. The cast of crazies includes a pyromaniac, a stuttering ex-lawyer, a “wannabe” actor/director who seems deceptively almost- normal, a lithium-addled pianist, a switchblade-wielding romantic, a foggy-minded junkie and an obsessive- compulsive with a burning desire to count… everything.

The stage, and the stage on the stage, are set for an evening of riotously funny theatre, with more than its share of pathos and insight. You’ll definitely go home thinking, as well as recovering from an evening of belly laughs. Cosi might leave you wondering who is sane and who is insane and whose world makes more sense.

The cultural exchange has begun, and for Colin and Gail, as well as for Burlington Little Theatre, the first steps have been taken on a bridge from Australia to Canada, over which the culture and the lives of two different, yet similar nations can pass.

Cast

Lewis … Michael Wierenga

Lucy … Lisa Rainville

Nick … Craig Abraham

Justin … Doug Gowland

Roy … Bruce Edwards

Henry … Ian MacPherson

Doug … Warren Chinn

Cherry … Kerry Corrigan

Julie … Wendy Haller

Ruth … Gail Beker

Zac … Al French

Crew

Stage Manager … Jim Spencer

Set Design … Peter Lloyd

Assistant Stage Manager … Louise Reed

Lights … Dennis Howarth