Cody and Beau: A Wild West Story ★★★★

The eponymous characters in Cody and Beau: A Wild West Story dream of escaping their hometown of Gonzales, Texas, and becoming cowboys, but their hopes are rooted in the fantasy and folklore of magazines and action figures, items that are demonstrably being read and played with by Cody Crockett (Dylan Kaeuper) at the play’s start. Soon they will learn the hard way what the audience already knows, that the reality of a cowboy’s life in 1899 is far harsher, far less romantic. Their loss of innocence is the heart of this intriguing show, a clever and engaging road trip down the path of deconstructed American western mythology.

Their sanitized fantasy is fun, as fantasies are wont to be. Ennio Morricone’s classic score to The Good, The Bad and the Ugly fills the air, Beau McCarthy (Will Grice) does an elaborate and amusing version of what he think’s Billy the Kid’s dance of death looked like, and well-known outlaws and heroes are name dropped in rapid succession: Wyatt Earp, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Calamity Jane, Jesse James and Buffalo Bill all get called out, with the last being proclaimed the greatest “cause he killed the most Indians.” These boys — and they are most definitely boys — think they’re ready to face the outside world, but their inherent sweetness and naïveté will be no match for what they’ll soon be facing.

Their first night out in the desert — far from the comfort of their bedrooms — is one full of discovery and questions.

Cody: “What’s them shiny things?”

Beau: “Stars.”

Later, when discussing and wondering if God is a real thing, Beau announces that he thinks “God looks like a horse.” Learning that even their imaginations are limited to the contained world they’ve thus far experienced, it’s clear that heartbreak is on the way. And it is.

Both still university undergraduates, Kaeuper and Grice are totally in sync as they bring impressive spirit, sincerity and physicality to their respective characters, and the result is this thoughtful production that’s both entertaining and moving. It’s exciting to consider what they’ll come up with next.