Biography

Cossa produced his first play, Nuestro fín de semana ("Our Weekend") in 1964. The Neo-realist work earned him many Argentinian drama prizes.

His theatre works became more prolific following democratic elections in 1983 and included Ya nadie recuerda a Frederic Chopin ("No One Remembers F.C."), a study in frustrating exile, De pies y manos ("On Hands and Feet"), a realist look into the effect of the dictatorship on one family, and Los compadritos ("The Poseurs"), a controversial review of the events surrounding the 1939 sinking of the Graf Spee.

The climate of repression that prevailed in Argentina during its last dictatorship eased somewhat in 1980 as General Jorge Videla prepared to transfer power to General Roberto Viola, an advocate for increased, if limited, artistic freedom. Playwright Osvaldo Dragún seized the opportunity to organize an Teatro Abierto ("Open Theatre") movement, calling on Cossa and fellow playwrights Luis Brandoni, Jorge Rivera López and Pepe Soriano, as well as receiving support from prominent intellectuals such as Nobel laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and writer Ernesto Sábato. Refurbishing a former Buenos Aires sparkplug factory into the Picadero Theatre, they premiered their first festival on 28 July 1981, featuring Cossa's Gris de ausencia ("Pale of Absence") among the evening's repertoire. During an August 6 performance, however, three fire bombs were set off in the theatre, forcing the Open Theatre to relocate (The Picadero was reopened in 2001).

He first acted in the theatre at the age of 17 and, in 1957, he and friends founded the San Isidro Independent Theatre.

An admirer of Fidel Castro, he worked secretly as a local correspondent for Cuba's state-owned press agency, Prensa Latina, between 1960 and 1970.