Eugene weekly., August 25, 2011, Page 28, Image 28

theater
BY JOHN LOCANTHI
These cowgirls
go to heaven
One Trick Pony
Cowgirl Heaven gallops smiling into the sunset
R
odeo. Where hundreds, if not
thousands, gather to watch half-
mad people try to ride ornery bulls
and rope cattle and witness dazzling displays
of acrobatic horse riding. Where a rider could
be mortally wounded in a split second. Where
a brief, subtle mistake could be the difference
between being crowned rodeo champion and
having all of your bones broken. Where not
too long ago a group of brave, half-mad
women won fame and glory, the inspiration
for Cowgirl Heaven.
The play is a work of historical fi ction.
The characters are based on real-life
cowgirls that traveled with a rodeo in the
Roaring Twenties. The lobby of the Very
Little Theatre has several pictures of the
original cowgirls performing in Pendleton.
The story begins with four women
meeting before a job interview for an
all-girl rodeo, and all of the standard
archetypes are present. There is the naïve,
inexperienced Laramie Tiller (Ecaterina
Lynn) who is eager to learn how to do rodeo
tricks. There is Amarillo Rose (Hannah
Quigg), the plucky young sweetheart
turned bronc-riding extraordinaire. There
is the surly, lonely divorceé Minx (Penta
Swanson), who belts out folksy one-liners
with a languorous Southern drawl.
And then there is the illiterate, brash,
superstitious, violent Paddy Irish-er
Maude Mahoney, played with a very thick
accent by Katie Peters. The Irish are said
to be the only ethnic group that’s fair
game, and this caricature is a boon to this
particular comedy. Mahoney’s accent is a
welcome reprieve from the southern drawl
of her fellow cowgirls, and Peters does a
marvelous job of maintaining it even while
singing.
The fi fth and fi nal member of the rodeo
troupe is Chaps Purcell (Jessi Cotter),
the ambitious leader who, for better or
worse, nudges the others into trying riskier
feats when they aren’t busy popping out
babies. The group’s dream is to perform at
Madison Square Garden.
The play is executed inside Stage Left,
the smaller of VLT’s two theaters, which
makes for an interesting experience. You
are close enough to practically touch the
performers and, as director Reva Kaufman
stated before the play began, “You just
might end up with a cowgirl in your lap if
you don’t watch your feet.”
There is a nice balance between frenetic
physical comedy and slower, more somber
scenes in Kaufman’s direction. The
minimal use of props, simple costumes and
bare-bones set design keeps the focus on
the performers.
Prior to the show, the audience was
informed that Cowgirl Heaven was one
of the most active, exciting and hilarious
plays to be performed at the theater, and
that we would be entertained throughout
the entire production.
And she was right, for the most part.
Cowgirl Heaven opens with a series
of funny, light-hearted jokes and songs. A
palpable sense of energy and excitement
hung about the theater. And then it went
on. And on. I found myself checking the
playbill to make sure they weren’t singing
the same song over and over. A throwaway
line about Clark Gable got the biggest
laugh of Act Two.
It wasn’t that the play became boring;
more like it never varied from the perky,
light-hearted note it begins with, even
when the group is fi ghting, arguing and
breaking up. Minx’s “I Walk Alone” is the
only song that fi nds a different note.
Cowgirl Heaven is a funny story —
make no mistake about that — about a
group of women banding together to do
something decidedly unladylike. Opening
with a bang, the play ends with the
successful women longing for a return to
the old days. Much had changed since they
were barely scraping to get by, trying to
achieve the seemingly impossible dream
of Madison Square Garden, but the tone of
the play hadn’t. Cowgirl Heaven rides that
upbeat, perky note into the sunset.
ew
Cowgirl Heaven plays through Aug. 28 at Very Little
Theater, 2350 Hilyard St., $10; info at www.thevlt.com or
call 541-344-7751.
From Bananas to Zombies
A
lready, by 7:30 sharp, there are seven people signed up to perform. All-inclusive theatre group No Shame Eugene has opened the door for its monthly Friday
night show, and literally anything can happen on the stage this night.
At the deadline half an hour later, there are 13 groups signed up for a fi ve-minute performing slot. A little short of the usual 15, but numbers aren’t really
the point. “It’s supposed to be an open forum,” says No Shame coordinator Jacob Boyd. “It’s a community.”
The Aug. 5 show kicks off with local musician Ted Czuk, who plays folky tunes for an attentive crowd. No Shame performs the fi rst Friday of every month in the
downtown Atrium building, in front of an audience seated in chairs hauled in from a nearby conference room. Despite the makeshift surroundings, the feeling of
being in a theatre isn’t hard to conjure.
The family-friendly acts were heavy on monologues, which made up four out of the nine acts. But the soliloquies were broken up by performance pieces like that
by fi rst-timer Janet Snyder, who read her poem “Just Fly Me.” Martin the Mime’s bit, “Just A Little Nip,” accompanied by the music of Billie Holiday, was just plain
adorable.
When the Jaws theme sounded, the more risqué acts hit the boards. As the title character in “Ask A Viking,” Jesse Wells earned the most laughs for his R-rated
answers to audience-written questions. “Apocalyptic Zombie Pranksters” wrapped things up with the epic line, “Screw you guys, I hate this apocalypse!”
The atmosphere after the show was light and friendly. The night was still young. And there’s nothing like watching a skit about insane gas attendants to really
loosen a person up. — Brit McGinnis
No Shame performs the fi rst Friday of every month at 8 pm at the downtown Atrium Building, 99 W. 10th Ave.; info at www.facebook.com/noshameeugene
28 AUGUST 25, 2011
EUGENE WEEKLY
WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM