Late, A Cowboy Song
by Sarah Ruhl
Full Length Play, Comedy / 1m, 2f
Mary, always late and always married, meets a lady cowboy outside the city limits of Pittsburgh who teaches her how to ride a horse. A story of one woman’s education and her search to find true love outside the box...
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Cast Size
1m, 2fDuration
120 minutes (2 hours)Subgenre
FantasyTarget Audience
- Adult
- Teen (Age 14 - 18)
Additional Info
This play is for all the lady cowboys of heart and mind who ride outside the city limits of convention. Mary, always late and always married, meets a lady cowboy outside the city limits of Pittsburgh who teaches her how to ride a horse. Mary’s husband, Crick, buys a painting with the last of their savings. Mary and Crick have a baby, but they can’t decide on the baby’s name, or the baby’s gender. A story of one woman’s education and her search to find true love outside the box.
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Accolades
- Sarah Ruhl is the 2003 recipient of the Whiting Award for Drama
Reviews
REVIEWS
"Here as ever, Ruhl has a finger to her chin in poetic meditation, with the added attraction of a youthful yodel in her heart." - Washington Post
"[Ruhl's] language is vivid and lyrical. Crick is certainly no poet, but Ruhl finds language for him to describe his passion for art which is both moving and profound. While maintaining Mary’s dimness throughout the production, Ruhl allows her sufficient language to describe the sadness and fear she doesn’t even know she has. And Ruhl gives the laconic Red lines of cowboy wisdom which startle and provoke us..." - DC Theatre Scene
"The [play's] complexity percolates with gender bender twists. Is he for she? Is she for she? Is she a she or he?...Late: A Cowboy Song is an unexpectedly insightful dramedy about defining and redefining self in the pursuit of happiness." Chicago Now
"...this witty bubbling new work presents an in-depth look at the idiosyncrasies of life in regards to gender roles and love. A compelling piece of quirky drama, with an urban fairytale feel to the story, there are laughs and moments of deeply ponderous emotion to behold in this rapid moving performance." - DC Metro Theatre Arts
"An eccentric play about eccentrics" - Washington City Paper
Videos
Considerations
Performing Groups
- College Theatre / Student
- Community Theatre
- Dinner Theatre
- Professional Theatre
- Large Stage
- Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups
Cautions
- Mild Adult Themes
License details
- Minimum Fee: $125 per performance
Production
Details
- Time Period: Contemporary, Present Day, New Millennium/21st Century
- Duration: 120 minutes (2 hours)
- Setting: A version of Pittsburgh.
A silhouette of a messy kitchen.
An image of the Marlboro Man hovers in the distance against blue light. - Features / Contains: Contemporary Costumes / Street Clothes
Casting
1m, 2f
CRICK - Charming, fragile, and child-like
MARY - Keeps her journal locked
RED - She’s no cowgirl, she’s a cowboy
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MARY - Keeps her journal locked
RED - She’s no cowgirl, she’s a cowboy
Cast Attributes
- Non-Traditional casting
- Strong Role for Leading Woman (Star Vehicle)
Casting Notes
Red talks slow. Crick talks fast. Mary’s somewhere in the middle. Crick, Mary and Red need not be any particular race or ethnicity.
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Authors
Late: A Cowboy Song premiered at the Piven Theatre in Chicago in August of 2010.
Community Experiences