""There's a short story by the writer Annie Proulx called 'Brokeback Mountain,' the erudite, socially awkward New York writer tells the cowboy he has stumbled into romancing. 'I think you should read that.' 'Saw the movie,' the cowboy responds. 'Was good. Good enough that I don't think I need to read the story.' The exchange, which David Cale acts out midway through his solo performance Blue Cowboy, triggers a cascade of laughs.""
""But there are more mysterious forces at work here, and stranger depths to the characters involved. As Cale acknowledges what you think is going on, Blue Cowboy slowly and then suddenly subverts your expectations. It's an impressive display of storytelling dexterity, the monologuing equivalent of a rodeo rope trick: Watch him tie what looks like any old knot, and then pull on it to unloop the story entirely.""
David Cale performs Blue Cowboy as a first-person monologue about a socially awkward New York writer who travels to Sun Valley, Idaho, to draft a film script for an aspiring producer. The production uses a nostalgic mountain-park set with a painted backdrop, rawhide lamp, and elk standee to evoke kitsch that can feel serene or ominous under Mextly Couzin's moon-like lighting. Cale establishes coastal interloper tropes and triggers laughs with character exchanges, then gradually subverts expectations to reveal mysterious forces and deeper character complexities. Les Waters directs the piece to emphasize storytelling dexterity, precise timing, and theatrical illusion.
Read at Vulture
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