Camden Fringe: Cowpokes in a Bunkhouse

Oblique Theatre on Cowboys, Masculinity and Immersive Theatre

An entirely male-coded Wild West, told entirely by women: that’s the premise of Cowpokes in a Bunkhouse, an immersive new show from Oblique Theatre, an all-female company based in Brighton, arriving at Camden Fringe this August. Three cowpokes, Judd, Buck and Kit, spend a restless night trying to keep a herd calm under the watchful eye of the mysterious Big Man. When one of them starts telling a folk tale about two brothers and a stolen elixir, it turns out each cowpoke has their own, increasingly revealing, version of the same story.

The show is written and directed by Faith McNeill and Saskia Monteiro, with original music by The Roebucks and movement direction by Jess Harris.

Ahead of the run, Faith and Saskia answered a few questions for Red Bus Londinium.

Red Bus: Oblique is a full female company taking on a wild west bunkhouse full of rowdy cows, a setting that’s traditionally so male-coded. What drew you to that world, and what changes when women are telling this particular story?

We always knew our company would be an all female 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?”. When coming up for 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.

I think as a group of women, although we will never fully understand what it is like to be a man, we have made an intentional effort to share our personal experiences of masculinity; whether this is from family, friends, partners or the media. We wanted the show to be humorous and ironic, but also want it to reflect what we see in the men around us.

Red Bus: Judd, Buck and Kit are trying to keep the herd calm for fear of “The Big Man”. Without giving too much away, what does that dynamic let you explore?

The Big Man is an incredibly important aspect of our show and he represents whatever the audience thinks he represents. Whether he is a father figure, God or simply their boss, it is deliberately ambiguous. Regardless of who he is, his presence amplifies the space and adds a sense of unsettled urgency to each moment. Our cowpokes simply can’t be comfortable without the fear that they’re being watched. An ominous figure is a brilliant device and we got inspiration from 1984, Waiting for Godot and The Dumb Waiter.

Camden Fringe: Cowpokes in a Bunkhouse actors in cowboy hats

Red Bus: The show is described as “authentic(ish)”, which I love. How much research went into the Wild West setting, and where did you decide to let the ish take over?

Researching cowboys made us realise they aren’t these gunslinging criminals that the media has portrayed them as, traditionally they were cattle herders. Upon finding this out, we discovered that the cowpokes would often sleep in the same bunk as the cattle and sing the herd back to sleep, which is what inspired our story. We wanted to make the characters as relatable as possible on top of this. Although the setting and language is authentic, often their behaviour is reflective of the present day and what we know from the people around us. We often have people say “I think I’m more of a Buck” or “I definitely get emotional like Kit”. This was exactly what we wanted, for people to see these people from a different time, in a completely different circumstance, and realise they’re no different from themselves.

Red Bus: You mentioned you also advocate for affordable ticketing. Why does that matter to you as a company, and how does it shape the choices you make?

We as a company believe that theatre began back in prehistoric times when people would tell stories around a fire. Because of this, we believe that theatre is a fundamental part of our existence and therefore should be accessible to all. To make our show accessible we will try what we can to lower our ticket costs where we can.

Times are very hard right now in the world and sometimes what people need is to be transported to an old western bunkhouse and pretend to be a cow!

Red Bus: What’s it been like bringing an immersive show to the Camden Fringe, and what should audience members expect if they’ve never experienced immersive theatre before?

When the audience step foot into the theatre they are in the bunkhouse and they are the cows! They should expect audience interaction, they don’t have to reply, but our cowpokes will always acknowledge the audience as a wonderful herd of cattle. We wanted the audience to feel like they were part of an experience and not watching from outside of the fourth wall. It makes the show more exciting and will always give each person their own personal experience.

Cowpokes in a Bunkhouse plays the Hen & Chickens Theatre Bar on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th August at 9pm, running approximately 90 minutes. The show is recommended for ages 18+ and carries content warnings for violence, knife violence, swearing and misogyny. Tickets are £15, with a concession price of £12, available via camdenfringe.com.

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