MY LIFE AS A COWBOY at the Omnibus Theatre

★★★

“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.’

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

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

★★★

“has all the ideas for a really interesting production, but perhaps just needs a bit more focus”

Charlie (James McGregor) is an FX trainer in his mid-30s and he’s going through a divorce. So, he does what any single person freshly out of a relationship would do and gets on the dating apps. He makes new friends, moves into a new flat, even reignites a spark with an old flame. Stephanie Martin’s latest play Did You Mean to Fall Like That? is the tale of one man trying to get his life back together, whilst maybe making some new self-discoveries along the way.

McGregor finds a tenderness and vulnerability in Charlie, and as the story progresses he does slowly but surely get us very much on side. There’s a very nervous energy at the start, as if he’s uncomfortable having to talk to an audience about this (and maybe he is) so it does take a little more effort from the audience to get on board. A bit more of a controlled start to the storytelling, really making sure those early beats (and especially the humour) lands would really help us is ease into it.

One of the strengths of Martin’s writing is the way she sets up Charlie’s life and the external circumstances, particularly in terms of him not having a child. He and his wife were trying IVF, and I can’t quite recall if this was the catalyst for the divorce or if it was other things, but either way Martin does a fairly brutal thing of planting him in a world surrounded by children. Whether it’s ending up in a children’s playground, playing with his nephew, or probably the most difficult, seeing a woman who he could’ve maybe ended up with having a child herself. It’s a quietly tragic thing that reoccurs within the text and within his story. These moments however need to be made more of to really stick as emotional points in the play, either in the writing or in the pacing of the production, which tends to jump around quite abruptly from moment to moment, rather than letting us into Charlie’s mind, to see how the external factors are distressing him and causing change.

A later plot point in which Charlie realises he might have romantic or sexual feelings for another man is a bit shoehorned in, and sort of comes out of nowhere. It feels like a really key part of Martin’s story that needs more seed-planting and time to grow. There’s also an odd inconsistency in the text in which Charlie who is generally soft and gentle will suddenly drop a swear word or graphic reference, which feels often out of place and makes it that little bit harder for us to be on side with him.

Joel Moffett’s Sound Design is a good support in setting up atmosphere and emotional turning points, always feeling like it plays with the text and tone rather than against it. There’s a gorgeous moment where the volume in a club scene builds and then does a subtle drop at a key plot twist, which is really impactful.

It has all the ideas for a really interesting production, but perhaps just needs a bit more focus and less rushing through the emotional beats of the story. Still, it’s a pleasant enough hour and touches on themes which I’m sure will be pertinent for many.

Tag Archives: Scott le Crass

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

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

DID YOU MEAN TO FALL LIKE THAT?

★★★

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

DID YOU MEAN TO FALL LIKE THAT? at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

★★★

“has all the ideas for a really interesting production, but perhaps just needs a bit more focus”

DID YOU MEAN TO FALL LIKE THAT? at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – Pleasance Courtyard – Bunker Three

Reviewed on 15th August 2024

by Joseph Dunitz

Photography by Lexi Clare

DID YOU MEAN TO FALL LIKE THAT

DID YOU MEAN TO FALL LIKE THAT

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