The Cowboy is a Tombstone
The Cowboy is a Tombstone is an investigation into American culture’s relationship to the symbol of “The Cowboy”. The play begins when Turner Jackson, a young cowboy, contracts yellow fever and dies on his way home from his first cattle drive. After death, he is met with a bombastic entertainer who attempts to guide him through the next part of his “journey”: understanding his historical and mythic significance. The Cowboy is a Tombstone is TYSMFC’s final iteration of a years-long endeavor researching and making material about cowboys and the American frontier. Areas of research included the cowboy as a historical and mythological figure, the cultural and political role of the frontier throughout American history, and the geological history of the United States.
The Cowboy is a Tombstone premiered at Andy Art Center in Detroit, MI, August 3, 2023.
The Cowboy is a Tombstone was created by Scott Crandall and Maddy Rager, and is performed by Maddy Rager, Scott Crandall, and Jenna Kirk. Richard Newman is the consulting director and dramaturg. Costume design by Maddy Rager. Set Design by Jenna Kirk, Scott Crandall, and Maddy Rager. Sound Design by Scott Crandall and Corey Smith. Bug Design by Monty Etzcorn (lead designer) and Maddy Rager.
[Photos by Erika Ruch and Baraa Ktiri]
“Cowboy is a psychological deep dive of what it means to be a cowboy, a roller coaster ride through the problematic origins of our nation, and perhaps most profoundly, an existential meditation on whiteness and its history of dividing and destroying the planet.”
— Lynn Tofil, The Cowboy is a Tombstone (Review)
ITERATIONS
The Cowboy is a Tombstone was a years-long process of deep research, writing, and iterative development in the mediums of dance, theater, film, and multidisciplinary performance. Below are four iterations we made during this process.
High Noons
High Noons begins with the trope of the high noon standoff from Western movies, and transforms into a poetic meditation about America’s conception of time, history, and the nation’s genocidal roots. When this segment was performed for a live audience, they were seated on two sides of a long, narrow stage.
High Noons premiered at the Going Dutch Festival, June 2022. This documentation was filmed and edited by Bum Productions.
Fugitive Dust
A pensive experimental work performed as a powerpoint slideshow of short phrases intended for the audience to read out loud in unison. Fugitive Dust weaves together the industrial revolution, coal, American westward expansion, the formation of the cross-country railroad, prehistory and mass extinctions, and a story about a woman on the run from the law.
This work is both an extension of our small project Everything Has Been Said But It Has Not Yet Been Said By Everyone, and an iteration of material from our current project, The Cowboy is a Tombstone.
Fugitive Dust premiered at the Going Dutch Festival, June 2021.
Terminal Moraines and the American Frontier
“Terminal Moraines and the American Frontier” is a mix of performance art, installation, and history essay. Originally developed for a video tour of the neighborhood where we rehearse and Scott lives, “Terminal Moraines” interacts with the unfinished walls of the community space Squash House. Performers alter a sculptural installation, accompanied by a recording of an essay about glaciers and the evolving American frontier.
This is an iteration of material from our current project, “The Cowboy is a Tombstone” and was filmed and edited by Bum Productions.
Oh, Bury Me
“Oh, Bury Me” is a performance in two parts - the first section is a song & dance routine that reflects on the transformation of traditional cowboy music into the “singing cowboy” cultural figure, many of whom were never cowboys at all. Two versions of the same song are arranged together and sung by the performers: “Oh, Bury Me Out On the Lone Prairie” as sung by Roy Rogers, a romanticization of frontier life, and its traditional precursor “Oh, Bury Me Not On the Lone Prairie”, a mournful song about a young cowboy dying on the trail and longing for home. In the second part, Scott invites the viewer on a walk to Belle Isle, and muses about how our foundations may not be as solid as they seem.
This is an iteration of material from our current project, “The Cowboy is a Tombstone” and was filmed and edited by Bum Productions.