Lewis

Personal Qualities


Lewis was very naïve in the way that he seemed to be inexperienced directing mental patients to do a play. He found it difficult to control the mental patients quite a bit which meant they would wreck havoc. Lewis to be a successful director Lewis needed to be much more firm with the patients. Nick even says to Lewis, “You will never be a director until you can convince them that what you want to do is what they want to do.” Lewis was very enthusiastic about starting the play and completing it; he has an intense interest and liking for directing and is keen to do the play not only for him but the patients who are enjoying doing something out of their wards. Lewis seemed to be very resilient in the way he was capable of carrying on after suffering hardship for example finding out his girlfriend Lucy was cheating on him with his best friend, Nick. Lewis didn’t let this incident let him down but he carried on with the play and was very committed and pledged to the patients. Lewis has a lot of integrity and was very honest, wholesome and sincere with the patients and would tell honestly tell Doug who was very rude and sexual personal truths about his relationship with his girlfriend, Lucy. Lewis is a very honorable man who is very upright and considerate of how the patients were feeling and what they were happy to doing in a play. Roy chose to do the play ‘Cosi Fan Tutte”, Lewis thought this would be very tricky for mental patients to do and wasn’t to keen at all with doing that certain opera but gave it a go and made allowances and was loyal to Roy and big his dreams of doing Cosi. Lewis was extremely patient with the patients and tolerated a lot of annoyances and silliness from the patients, for example, Ruth would seem to ask Lewis a lot of meaningless questions and Lewis was able to remain calm and answer her questions. Lewis had a good sense of humor and was able to connect with the patients much better with his sense of humor. Lewis can come across a bit selfish because he puts the play above his girlfriend and does what he wants to do rather than going to a political activism with his girlfriend Lucy.

Relationships:
Lewis has a girlfriend named Lucy and lives in a house with Lucy and he’s Best Friend Nick. It is unclear how long Lewis and Lucy have been together but if they are living together and talk of marriage then I presume they have been together for a while. Lewis develops really strong relationships with the patients. For example Cherry’s crush on Lewis, Julie and Lewis’s little love affair, Roy’s actions and attitudes, Zac little liking for Ruth¬.

Conflict

In the play Cosi, Lewis spends a lot of time in Act 1 trying to avoid conflict and confrontations with his fellow mental patients. The ways in which Lewis avoided this conflict was by going along with Roy’s choice of the Mozart opera even though it was an unrealistic idea. Roy would always give Lewis a hard time in regards to the way he directs. Lewis had enough of this, but to avoid the conflict he put up with it. He was focused on the play and didn’t need any drama to interfere with it. Lewis also had a hard time with Cherry and Lucy. Cherry had a crush on Lewis and would be jealous every time he talked to Lucy. This caused a little conflict with Lucy and Cherry and Lewis was right in the middle of it. This made it hard for Lewis to direct.

Another conflict that arose from the play was regarding to the Vietnam War. Lucy and Nick didn’t agree to the play Cosi Fan Tutte because it involved themes such as love and fidelity which they thought weren’t acceptable while the war was going on. They thought that this was just a waste of time, and didn’t support him the way a girlfriend and best friend should. In the end, Lewis ignored Lucy and Nick’s thoughts and went on with the play that he was passionate about.

Emotional and intellectual growth
In Cosi, Lewis is forced to mature and take the lead. When things don’t seem to go right in regards towards the play, Lewis learns to step up and take control. Before this play Lewis was just a university student trying to succeed in life, but when he took on the role of director in Cosi Fan Tutte he learned that to become successful in life you must be patient.

When Lucy and Nick don’t support Lewis’s idea of directing the play he picks himself up and learns that he can do this, and realises he has abilities he never thought he had before. He grows into a man that can control a group of mental patients his never met before, and he can deal with the conflict and drama that is put in front of him. Lewis never gave up on this play, he grew to be determined and focused on the job ahead of him.

Lewis’s thoughts on love and fidelity changed and grew within the play. Although Lewis was very passionate about this theme, he knew that if Lucy didn’t feel the same there was no point to waste his time on someone who doesn’t love him back. He grew and was able to let go, he knew there was somewhere else out there who could treat him right and with respect.

Eloise , Jordie and Demi