“I think God looks like a horse: big and beautiful.”
With their imaginations ignited by dime novels and magazines about “Wild West” legends, two young boys in Gonzales, Texas, in 1889 decide to escape their quaint, unexceptional lives to pursue the excitement of life in the “Wild West” as cowboys. Theorising that legendary outlaw Billy the Kid is still alive and out there somewhere – either literally, or as a metaphorical symbol of the West – they head towards New Mexico to find him. They soon learn that adventuring in the West isn’t as glamourous as the stories would have you believe.
Cody and Beau: A Wild West Story wears its influences proudly on its sleeve. It includes a diverse array of references, from Cormac McCarthy’s grim Western epic novel Blood Meridian, via John Ford and Clint Eastwood Western films, all the way to Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. The play even bears similarities to The Scotsman’s Fringe First Award-winning A Letter to Lyndon B Johnson by Edinburgh Fringe legends Xhloe and Natasha, another story of two boys caught up in propaganda around American exceptionalism and toxic masculinity. Overt nods to these many influences make for an interesting parallel to the characters in the story and their love of fictionalised accounts of Western icons such as Billy the Kid and Buffalo Bill. The result is a thought-provoking exploration of American mythmaking, and how the myth of “Wild West” has been used from the 19th century to the present day to reinforce and propagate American national myths around exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny.
Performers and writers Dylan Kaeuper and Will Grice have undeniable and infectious chemistry, which makes it easy to get caught up in the excitement of the characters’ misguided schemes. Dynamic physical sequences, fast-paced back-and-forth dialogue, and laugh-out-loud comedic gags early in the play illustrate their close friendship and their childlike imaginations. Of the two characters, Beau does unfortunately feel less developed than Cody. Cody is clearly characterised as a dreamer and a schemer, full of braggadocio and a desire for adventure. Beau, on the other hand, flip-flops between being cowardly or brave, easily-lead or a natural leader, stupid or smart.
While the first half of the play is dynamic and exciting both narratively and in terms of stagecraft, the second half sees the quality drop. Scenes begin to lack focus and don’t follow on from one another in as logical a fashion, and each scene seems to last about two minutes longer than it needs to. The staging also becomes more rigid and uninteresting. This culminates in a climax that appears from nowhere, without sufficient setup or foreshadowing. An argument could be made that this unexpected ending ties into the themes of the play; life on the real American Frontier did not afford people the storybook endings they would hope for from having read fictionalised stories of the “Wild West”.
Although Cody and Beau is not a perfect play, Dylan and Will make a fantastic duo who theatre fans should definitely keep an eye on.
Cody and Beau: A Wild West Story runs until 16th August at theSpace @ Niddry Street with tickets available at https://www.thespaceuk.com/
Reviewer: Charles Edward Pipe
Reviewed: 11th August 2025
North West End UK Rating:
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