LGBT-centric theater group Quince Productions is back in the saddle with its latest show, “Rodeo,” April 7-23 at Walnut Street Theatre.
Written by Phillip Dawkins, the play is somewhat of a departure for Quince, as it is a family-friendly boot-stomping hootenanny of a comedy about a cowgirl, Cody, and her trusty mule, who have to pass themselves off as a cowboy and a horse in the quest to compete in rodeos.
“It was written for a bunch of junior high-school students to perform after school,” Dawkins said about the play. “It takes its inspiration from Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’ and also Aaron Copland’s ‘Rodeo.’ ‘As You Like It’ is my favorite Shakespeare play and I thought ‘Rodeo’ would make a good play because it’s a wonderful ballet. So doing a mash-up of those things was my inspiration.”
Dawkins said the work allows families to open up conversation about gender boundaries.
“This play for kids definitely questions gender roles and sexuality in a way that is approachable for the whole family to have discussion around it,” he said.
Jenna Pinchbeck, who plays Cody, said the character is trying to pave the way for people, like her, who don’t want to conform to gender roles.
“She’s 100-pecent resilient,” Pinchbeck said. “She fights for what’s right, not only for herself, but for humanity. She’s working hard to raise money to start a school for misunderstood cowgirls because when she was growing up, she was misunderstood and she wants to help the girls who are living that same life and have had the same difficulties she had. She’s riding around the country trying to find that next rodeo she can win so she can get that prize money to start that school. And she always wins. She’s won every rodeo she’s been in so far.”
The play is especially timely considering the controversies frequently arising nationwide about female and trans inclusion in sports traditionally dominated by cisgender males.
“I can’t ever remember a time when that hasn’t been a debate, unfortunately,” Dawkins said. “I don’t know why it’s still a debate, talking about what people of any gender can’t do. It’s a sad argument to hear played out over and over. Kids have way less judgment around this stuff. Kids have to be told or taught these incorrect things about gender, these social things we decided to make up as a society about what gender is. If you don’t teach them that and you don’t instill that in them at a young age, then they are not going to think that. This is a play that hopefully helps kids form their own questions about what they think gender is.”
“It’s such a wonderful message because these are huge issues, especially in the school system,” Pinchbeck added. “Kids aren’t given the opportunity to find what they are good at. When you are a kid, it’s a parent’s responsibility that you make sure you allow your kids to do whatever they can in school so they can figure out what direction they want to go in the long run. If we’re not allowing little girls and transgender students to participate in sports or any extracurricular activity, it’s really going to hinder their growth. There’s a great message and it’s really well-balanced.”
“Rodeo” is a comedy at its core, so it offers lots of fun and laughs to go along with that message.
“The writing is done so well that it doesn’t shove anything down the audience’s throat,” Pinchbeck said. “It’s delicately written in a sense that there are notes of feminism and equality and all that, but it’s written so well that the characters have so much heart. They are trying to be the best they can be. Everyone is living true to their goals and what they want to achieve in the show. [The show] knows what it is. It’s silly fun. There’s a little bit of satire in there as well and it’s a little off-the-wall.”
“It’s definitely a comedy and can live in a place of a camp aesthetic,” Dawkins added. “It owes a lot to vaudeville or something like ‘Hee Haw.’ If there’s a fart joke to be made, it’s going to make it. I think that’s part of what makes it family-friendly. The themes are deep and real. It’s exploring stuff that people from 3 years old to 60 years old deal with. But it does it in a way that is going to include a laugh and a smile for people of all ages. Plus, there’s a lot of people playing horses and mules.”
“Definitely the animals are having a blast getting to know how they are going to put the physicality into the horses and the mules,” Pinchbeck added. “And as the human characters, we have a lot of fun riding on our mules and our horses.”
There’s also an unexpected romance to go with the comedy hijinks when Cody find herself falling for her cowboy rival and current rodeo champion.
“She’s never had feelings like this for anyone,” Pinchbeck said. “He may have but certainly not for anyone like Cody, who’s a tomboy. When she ends up dressing like a man and he starts to have feelings for her as a person, what it boils down to is what we’re striving for, in that humanity is equality and people love people. It doesn’t matter who or what or where or when, if someone loves someone, it shouldn’t matter anything other than the human spirit. It’s a hysterical balance but it’s a beautiful message.”
Quince Production presents “Rodeo” April 7-23 at Walnut Street Theatre’s Studio 5, 825 Walnut St. For more information or tickets, call 215-627-1088 or visit www.quinceproductions.com.