COWBOY BREAKFAST (Compacts)****

  

By Emma 

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myH90nb91NA

Available until: Unknown

Content warning: Contains themes of suicide

Cowboy Breakfast is really sad. It’s not all sad because the main character is really amazing but it made me think about my own life and the people in it. This play is creative, clever and fictional but it’s not just a story. It’s about real life.

In recent times, we’ve been worried about elderly people who are on their own and it’s been especially hard because there’s not always anything we can do about it. Not all elderly people are suffering from loneliness, I know a lady who loves it on her own and it annoys her the way people keep trying to fill her time up with online socialising and phone calls which stop her from getting on with the things she really enjoys. Maybe that is something we need to think about too, the elderly are as different as the rest of us and we don’t all want or need the same things so we shouldn’t be forcing the same things on them. Sometimes you need to ask what people want and not just assume.

This play isn’t set during the pandemic but I think a lot of pandemic things are relevant all the time. Ask people what they want and need, do your best to arrange as much as is realistic and keep your promises if you possibly can. That’s really important.

It’s very clear in this play what George wants. He is excited because his son John is coming round the next day. He’s looking forward to seeing him and he has big plans. His excitement is really sweet. The effort and planning shows how important it is to him. It’s not just that he wants to see John, he wants John to have a good time.

It’s especially important because George is a man who likes to be around people and his wife has died. He isn’t completely alone because he has his imaginary life of being a cowboy with John Wayne (these scenes are sad in some ways but also beautiful and admirable, imaginary lives are so creative and they can be so important) but there are times when he wants and needs a real person.

Rick Allden has written a sad and moving story but he’s put a lot of happiness in it too. He’s created a really lovely main character who you enjoy watching in his happy moments. He’s so much more than an object of pity, which I think is really important. Elderly people can be wonderful individuals and it’s important to appreciate that and Rick has given us a character with a lot of lovely qualities which we can appreciate and is beautifully brought to life by Mike Hayward. But Rick knows exactly how to tug at our heartstrings and he keeps on doing it! He never overdoes it or underdoes it. He’s written something that feels very real.

It is sad, though. You need to be feeling strong!