Louis Nowra’s much-loved play Così is often held up as the archetypal great Australian comedy, a larrikin farce in the vein of Michael Frayn’s Noises Off (1982). But as the years roll by and the play’s sensitivities diverge from contemporary standards, it increasingly seems to share more in common with Shakespeare’s ‘problem plays’.

Since its première at Belvoir St Theatre in 1992, Così has earned an affectionate fascination for many, either through study at school, various stagings, or the 1996 film iteration (directed by Mark Joffe), with its extraordinary before-they-were-famous all-star cast. And yet, Così clings to several woefully dated ideals, particularly in its handling of mental health, that naggingly tug at its status as a revered classic.