New West presents old west laughs with Cowboy: A Cowboy Story

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Get ready to laugh cowboy style with Accidental Humour Co.’s  Cowboy: a Cowboy Story,” which New West Theatre brings to the Sterndale Bennett Theatre, Sept. 21-Oct. 1.Accidental Humour Co’s Willie Banfield, Cliff Kelly, Frazier Andrew  and jeremy Mason star in Cowboy: An Cowboy Story. Photo By Richard Amery
The Edmonton based group of University of Lethbridge graduates are excited to bring Cowboy: A Cowboy Story back to Lethbridge for a two week run Sept. 21-Oct. 1.

The cast includes former New West artistic director Jeremy Mason, Willie Banfield, who has performed in several New West productions, Cliff Kelly and Frazier Andrew. Each of them play multiple characters


“We’ve added some new choreography and two new video projectors and screens,” he said, noting  their theatre company Accidental Humour Company‘s mandate is to combine theatre with movies,” said co-director and playwright and video designer  Brent Felzien.


“We all love theatre and we all love movies, so we wanted to develop something that  combines our love for both of them, to build and tour them,” he said.
He said Cowboy: A Cowboy Story is both a satire and an homage to western movies.


“It’s a little of both,” he said, adding the play allows them to explore the various facets of western movies they enjoy.
“It’s very silly, very funny and lots of action, horse riding, train robbing and romance,” he said.


“It’s all the things we love about about  westerns,” he said.

“It’s a pretty straight forward western plot. A stranger rides into town and finds himself in the middle of  of a lot of mischief and villainous characters and falls in love and tries to reconcile his desire for freedom and try to do what’s right,” he described.

 
Jeremy Mason is excited to be back in Lethbridge for a longer run of the production, which has been a hit at the Edmonton Fringe Festival.


“I actually play two  characters. I play the Kid, who is a very kidlike cowboy. He’s a  young gun, but also very childlike as well. The other character is  a gunslinger, all dressed in black. He’s brooding and mysterious,” Mason described.


“In the second half of the show you realize what it’s really about,” he said.


 They have been enjoying touring the province with the show.“ The play is really funny. We have some fun with spaghetti westerns,” he said.


“ The best part is I get to perform with four very funny people, so I’ve been laughing all the time especially  in rehearsal.”


“Cowboy: A Cowboy Story” runs at the Sterndale Bennett  Theatre  at 7:30 p.m. each night Sept, 21- Oct. 1
There are also matinees at noon, Sept. 22 and 27 and at 1 p.m. Sept. 24 and Oct. 1.

— By Richard Amery, l.A. Beat Editor
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