The Camden Fringe is upon us, providing one of the best times in the capital to get into Fringe theatre, and the stories it can tell. To get prepared for the festival, Read About Stuff is running a ‘Five From The Fringe’ interview series, where creative teams answer five questions about their upcoming Festival shows.
In this interview, I chat to Faith McNeill and Saskia Monteiro about their new show Cowpokes in a Bunkhouse.
Can you tell me a little about your show and what audiences can expect?
Cowpokes in a Bunkhouse is an immersive, authentic(ish), all-American Wild West Bunkhouse, full to the rails with rowdy cows. Three unlikely acquaintances, Judd, Buck and Kit, are trying their best to calm the herd for fear of The Big Man. When singing fails and frustration builds, one cowpoke begins to tell a story. Each man has their own version of the same folk tale about two brothers, a stolen elixir and a choice that changes their fate. But as each story grows wilder, darker and more revealing, it becomes clear these aren’t just bedtime tales for cows…
Audiences can expect to be transported to a different world and fully immersed into our bunkhouse!
What drew you to this specific story, and why does it belong at the Edinburgh Fringe?
We pride ourselves on being an all-female theatre company. From growing up in theatre, we both felt limited to the roles available to us. When we were in college, there was only one boy in our year group, so we would often take on the male roles in plays and musicals — this made us realise that “why isn’t this a thing more often?”. We want to make people look differently at acting possibilities for women, and prove that they can play the fun and powerful roles. When coming up with the concept of the show, we wanted to focus on a male-centric environment where there is a pressure cooker of masculinity in one confined space. This perfectly matched with our ongoing passion for cowboys so we decided to combine the two. The production belongs at the Camden Fringe because it explores masculinity from a female perspective, which is something we believe is under-explored as a concept – and where best to kick things off but at a Fringe festival in the heart of London.
What has been the biggest challenge in bringing this production to life?
One challenge has been writing, directing and producing the show whilst holding down our full-time jobs. It takes a lot of energy and brain power to navigate creating a whole production and running a company when you’ve also got to keep yourselves going. We hope that we are able to inspire others that if you work hard and manage your time, you can also create something pretty wonderful.
Another challenge has been getting to grips with what masculinity means. We’ve made a conscious effort as women to really use our personal experiences to build a world around these three men that feels real, emotional and relatable for the audience.
How does the design of your show (set, sound, or lighting) impact the presentation of your story?
The set is simple, yet resembles the inside of a run-down bunkhouse. Once the audience comes into the space, they have set foot into the bunkhouse themselves. We like the concept that the audience step inside the fourth wall and become part of the space, rather than feeling uninvolved and like an outsider. For the show, we have original music created and produced by The Roebucks band, which is truly phenomenal. What they have created sounds like you’ve been transported back in time, and it coincides with the movement of the show perfectly.
If you could sum up the show in one word or phrase, what would it be and why?
Moo.
Cowpokes in a Bunkhouse runs at Hen & Chickens Theatre on 29 – 30 August. Tickets are available here: https://camdenfringe.com/events/the-untold-fable-of-fritz/
