★★★

“a fun show with witty and laughable moments”

My Life as a Cowboy – by Hugo Timbrell, Directed by Scott Le Crass – follows Conor (Harry Evans): a Seventeen year old lifeguard who dreams of being a Country back up dancer. It’s unclear where those dreams come from, but it’s established that Country music is cool now so of course that’s what he must do – else continue being a ‘loser’. Upon discovering his dream, Conor decides he must perform at the Talent Show of Croydon People’s Day. He seeks the help of best friend Zainab (Nusrath Tapadar) and fellow lifeguard Michael (Callum Broome) to assist him.

I had mixed feelings about the show throughout – on one hand the performances are lovely and it has some funny moments that kept me moderately entertained. On the other hand I felt an overwhelming sense that it lacked depth. The audience is told Conor feels like a ‘loser’, like his life doesn’t contain any purpose greater than himself. A feeling I’m sure we’ve all had at seventeen, but the text doesn’t explore that further. There are details that could suggest deeper reasons as to why Conor would feel isolated and disenfranchised – a young gay teenager with a father who seemingly abandoned him, perhaps? Unfortunately these details are not explored in any way. In fact, he appears a very confident and self assured young man, just with a bit of stage fright. And to be fair, if you were a seventeen year old suddenly deciding you wanted to be a dancer without any prior training or experience, I’m sure you’d have stage fright too. Conor’s confidence and self belief make the idea of him being a ‘loser’ pretty unbelievable.

As a result, I didn’t care for the character. Evans succeeds in playing him well and their comic timing and charming portrayal shines throughout. The standout character for me, however, was actually the ‘anti-hero’ Michael. At first he is unfriendly towards Connor, and doesn’t want to get to know him at work due to his own complexes about being ‘weird’. But while opening up to Connor, we discover Michael’s love for music. But Michael is scared of performing, we actually see his fear of rejection and how it overrides his love of guitar. So when Michael seemingly spoils Conor’s chance at achieving his dream for his own benefit – I’m rooting for Michael not Conor. Broome is fabulous in the role: his performance is witty and he really does steal the stage in every scene he’s in.

The design’s simple yet effective: curtains divide the stage and create different settings. A bedroom contains a single bed and leopard print covers alongside a white wardrobe covered in country music star posters. The bed is used to transition into the swimming pool area using a metal stage. The play transitions between settings between almost every scene, with actors moving the set. This was mostly forgivable but some of the transitions were slow and there was nothing to watch on stage while they happened – apart from Conor changing costume, which felt a little invasive. Costume was also simple but effective; joggers, T-shirts and lifeguard uniforms. Conor also gets to don cowboy attire with a large pink Stetson for a joyous finale of Cowboy dancing, which was the best part of the play.

The sound (Nick Gilbert) was full of country music hits which added to the fun of the show. Lighting (Jodie Underwood) consisted of calming general washes with a lot of warm and pink tones.

Overall it’s a fun show with witty and laughable moments, but sadly feels superficial in its presentation of a ‘teenager finds themself’ story.’

THE BOX at the White Bear Theatre

★★★

“a good watchable show, with some interesting themes to explore”

Brian Coyle’s ‘The Box’ follows Tom (Martin Edwards) and Kate (Sarah Lawrie), a couple with a mysterious box in their lounge. How are the box and the pair connected? That’s one of the occasional mysteries to discover in the play. In the beginning, it’s unknown who they are to each other; they role play, each making up new back stories – which the other tends not to approve of. Slowly the nature of them being a couple is revealed. It becomes clear they’ve both shared a trauma which neither is comfortable being truthful about. The resolution to their cycle of lies is what follows.

From the start I sensed the actors were holding back. There’s several movement heavy moments that dictated transitions, in which I felt they were holding a lot of tension and could’ve given a lot more. Perhaps this came from nerves or not feeling free enough to push further and take more risks. What’s interesting about this is that the play opened with Tom and Kate role playing – and when they did, their characters felt so much more open and free. Perhaps this was a choice to show how they’ve become so uncomfortable with each other that they need another identity to relax. If this was Jonathan Woolf’s direction, however, I do not think it carried through and instead came off as stiff. Both actors, however, had beautiful moments of comedy which did succeed in charming the audience.

The sound (Simon Beyer) consisted of piano accompaniment in transitions and places where the dramatic intention of the scenes changed. This grated on me as it felt like the music was trying to prescribe what I was supposed to be feeling. Especially when there was no dialogue. Instead of silence that the actors could’ve used to create an atmosphere, we were told that there was a certain atmosphere. This was a shame as it took away from the couple’s uncomfortable pauses. In one scene towards the end, however, silence was allowed when the two reluctantly spoke of their love for each other. Here the beats were perfect and believable.

The set is minimal but detailed: the box taking centre stage, a shelf with a wine bottle and several glasses, a chair, a clothing rail with six dresses – all the same, in three different colours. I inferred this as trying to imply a potential mental health disorder – particularly given the dresses – which read well, and was subtle enough as to not be stereotypical. If this was the case, however, I wish that could have been explored more throughout. The costume included many bright and warm colours, contrasting the play’s heavy themes – as if it were part of the couple trying to pretend everything is ‘normal’ and masking their dark sides. Again, I appreciated the subtlety of this suggestion.

The content was interesting enough and did keep me wanting to know more about what’s really going on with the characters. Yet, I feel it’s a story and relationship dynamic I’ve seen many times before. Again, without giving too much away, I watch a lot of Detective TV shows and the main families, parents and couples all share this same struggle where one party doesn’t truly know the other since a shared trauma, and as a result they’re broken. Except here there is no mystery to unfold in action, it’s just the audience trying to guess what on Earth is up with the box.

Overall, a good watchable show, with some interesting themes to explore, but it did leave me unsatisfied and yearning for ten times more.

Tag Archives: David Robinson

MY LIFE AS A COWBOY

★★★

Omnibus Theatre

MY LIFE AS A COWBOY at the Omnibus Theatre

★★★

“a fun show with witty and laughable moments”

MY LIFE AS A COWBOY at the Omnibus Theatre

Reviewed on 28th August 2024

by David Robinson

Photography by Henri T

Previously reviewed at this venue:

HASBIAN | ★★★★ | June 2024

COMPOSITOR E | ★★★ | September 2023

MY LIFE AS A COWBOY

MY LIFE AS A COWBOY

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THE BOX

★★★

White Bear Theatre

THE BOX at the White Bear Theatre

★★★

“a good watchable show, with some interesting themes to explore”