COWBOIS at the Royal Court

★★★★★

“The trans and queer characters are self assured heroes who inspire awe and universal swoons from cast and audience alike”

The transfer of Charlie Josephine’s Cowbois from the RSC’s base in Stratford-Upon-Avon to London has been hotly anticipated and much trailed and it’s easy to see why.

In a town 100 miles from anywhere, ostensibly on the American frontier, a group of women, children, and a perpetually drunk sheriff, have been left behind by their male townsfolk who have gone off to join the gold rush. A wood panelled bar and four leather bar stools, backed with a sign of ‘no guns, no politics’ is all that’s needed to take the audience to this familiar setting. We’re introduced to each of the women through a prolonged discussion about how the ladies take their grits, with sugar or salt, the cheeky subtext of which sets up for a fantastical journey of gender discovery ignited by the arrival of the outlaw, Jack Cannon.

Playing with the image of the American cowboy, an icon of masculinity, is nothing new. The popularity of films like Brokeback Mountain and The Power of the Dog show how exploring gender and sexuality in this repressively conservative setting works. But where Cowbois differs is in centring the voices of women and trans people in a way that’s uplifting, rather than tragic. The trans and queer characters are self assured heroes who inspire awe and universal swoons from cast and audience alike.

The infamous Jack Cannon, played with swagger and style by Vinnie Heaven, acts as a catalyst for change for all the townspeople in sometimes magical and mysterious ways. De facto leader of the group Miss Lillian, Sophie Melville, is enthralled by Cannon’s charm. Their intense sex scene is deliciously wet and wild, staged under blue light (Simeon Miller) punctuated with moans and splashes from a substage pool. Later events are unexplained and unexplainable, but that’s no bother – this is a fantasy after all.

“There’s plenty of high camp music, movement and costumes that keeps the silliness coming”

Lillian and Jack’s moments of tenderness are sweet but surpassed by those between Jack, Kid, wonderfully played by Lemuel Ariel Adou on press night, and Lucy/Lou, Lee Braithwaite, where the bandit’s arrival inspires a recognition of something in Lucy/Lou that had not before been named. A small but perfectly formed moment.

There’s plenty of high camp music (Jim Fortune), movement (Jennifer Jackson) and costumes (Grace Smart) that keeps the silliness coming. A four-piece band (musical director Gemma Storr) plays on stage throughout that could only have been improved through being more visible, rather than tucked off to the side.

The action of Act I proceeds seamlessly (co-direction Charlie Josephine and Sean Holmes). There’s broad coverage of themes from racial injustice to homophobia to trans bodies but these are all briefly danced over, with characters ready to absorb whatever is presented in front of them with childlike acceptance. This is no criticism – it’s cheering to just be absorbed in the charm and fantasy of the piece rather than having to think too deeply about injustice and inequality. But as the act comes to a close, things do feel like they are going all too well, and as the dancing spirals to a climax, low and behold the smoke clears and the long-forgotten men of the town are there in silhouette having returned to the town.

Act II brings the conflict, along with a barnstorming performance from LJ Parkinson as one-eyed Charlie, but it’s swiftly resolved. Rather than deep and brooding intellectual discussions, mostly the men just seem bemused and ready to accept the collective awakening that’s happened in their absence, before joining in for the gun slinging finale.

Cowbois is a queer western fantasy celebrating individual expression and love in all its forms. Its feminist exploration of gender identity will leave you feeling lighter and more optimistic than when you went in.

COWBOIS at the Royal Court

Reviewed on 17th January 2024

by Amber Woodward

Photography by Ali Wright

Previously reviewed at this venue:

MATES IN CHELSEA | ★★★ | November 2023

CUCKOO | ★★½ | July 2023

BLACK SUPERHERO | ★★★★ | March 2023

FOR BLACK BOYS … | ★★★★★ | April 2022

COWBOIS

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★★

“Joel Goodman and Jan Osborne give Turing’s life the musical treatment but, unfortunately, it doesn’t quite crack the code”

In 2023 Artificial Intelligence hit the mainstream, with ChatGPT making waves and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak bringing together world leaders at his AI safety summit at Bletchley Park. Bletchley is widely considered one of the birth places of computer science and an apt fit for a demonstration of British leadership on AI. But it’s also worth remembering that whilst now the government celebrates a grandfather of computer science who worked there, Alan Turing, during his lifetime he was also prosecuted and subjected to chemical castration for homosexuality.

Turing’s is a tragic tale of a genius’ life cut short in its prime – a young man with endless promise, who gave so much to the Allied war effort, and whose contributions could only be revealed long after his death. Joel Goodman and Jan Osborne give Turing’s life the musical treatment but, unfortunately, it doesn’t quite crack the code.

This run at Riverside Studios represents the fourth iteration of the show which has been given a makeover with a new script by Joan Greening and direction under Jane Miles. There are some good theatrical techniques at play – a recurring motif of Alan’s fascination with the fairy tale Snow White humanises his mathematical mind and a myriad of props and costume keep the story visually entertaining. But trying to pack in a man’s whole life into 80 minutes, albeit one cut short at 41, is an arduous task and one that necessitates skimming over things in scant detail or focusing in on some moments to the exclusion of others. Joel and Joan clearly prefer the former, so we see Alan at school, briefly at Cambridge and Princeton, in Bletchley breaking codes and in Manchester where he has his run in with the police. It’s a useful overview of the man’s life, but it does mean some parts – particularly his time at Bletchley, are given short shrift.

“Zara Cooke saves the day each time, lending clarity and resonance to the otherwise humdrum score”

The most moving elements of the piece are the scenes drawn from Turing’s own letters. Even a letter from an adolescent Turing demonstrates his maturity and sensitivity, powerfully delivered by Joe Bishop. The letters also reveal the influence of the women in Turing’s life; his mother, the mother of his childhood friend Chris or his colleague and brief fiancée Joan. These confidants, all skilfully played by Zara Cooke, avoid the piece simply extolling Turing’s singular genius, but neither his mother nor Joan are developed enough as characters to feel any connection to them.

Many of the faults of the show come down to the musical numbers, which lack energy, rarely drive forward the action and are not remotely memorable. Bishop seems to struggle with his cues which then leads to rushed lyrics to catch back up with the music, not helped by having to regularly imitate Alan’s rigorous athletic pursuits whilst singing. Zara Cooke saves the day each time, lending clarity and resonance to the otherwise humdrum score.

A musical biography of Turing’s life is a fine idea, and elements of this show are approaching the mark. But a musical where the defining feature, the music, is this bland and disappointingly executed makes you wonder whether it was really worth the effort.

COWBOIS at the Royal Court

★★★★★

“The trans and queer characters are self assured heroes who inspire awe and universal swoons from cast and audience alike”

“There’s plenty of high camp music, movement and costumes that keeps the silliness coming”

COWBOIS at the Royal Court

Reviewed on 17th January 2024

by Amber Woodward

Photography by Ali Wright

Previously reviewed at this venue:

COWBOIS

COWBOIS

ALAN TURING – A MUSICAL BIOGRAPHY at Riverside Studios

★★

“Joel Goodman and Jan Osborne give Turing’s life the musical treatment but, unfortunately, it doesn’t quite crack the code”

“Zara Cooke saves the day each time, lending clarity and resonance to the otherwise humdrum score”

ALAN TURING – A MUSICAL BIOGRAPHY at Riverside Studios

Reviewed on 9th January 2024

by Amber Woodward

Photography by Gabriel Bush

Previously reviewed at this venue:

ALAN TURING

ALAN TURING/em>