HORSEGIRL & COWDADDY to Make World Premiere at Wilma Theater

Beginning September 22, Philadelphia-based theater company The Wilma Theater will present the world premiere of Horsegirl & Cowdaddy by playwright and screenwriter DJ Hills. Presented as a co-production between the Wilma and New York-based theater Soho Rep, the play centers on Horsegirl, a 30-something trans woman navigating love and self-determination in rural Pennsylvania. The production is directed by Adil Mansoor, who leads a cast comprising New York City-based creator and performer Samora de la Brisa, New York City-based actor Ni-Ni, and Wilma Artistic Director Lindsay Smiling. The world premiere co-production of Horsegirl & Cowdaddy runs from September 22 to October 4, with 14 performances presented in the Wilma's 300-seat theater.

On the outskirts of a small southern Pennsylvania town, Horsegirl (de la Brisa) shares a quiet life of familiar routines with her reserved but devoted father, Cowdaddy (Smiling). She works at a dollar store, paints horses she has never ridden, and spends her evenings watching television with her dad and imagining the life of the mother who left them years ago. When Horsegirl falls for Bethel (Ni-Ni), an ambitious transmasculine teacher new to town, their relationship awakens new possibilities and sparks a startling physical transformation. Bethel urges Horsegirl to pursue her unrealized potential, but Cowdaddy worries she is becoming someone else's project. Blending queer romance, family drama, sharp humor, and magic, Horsegirl & Cowdaddy asks who gets to define a meaningful life and whether happiness must always mean leaving something behind.

'I was fortunate enough to help develop the Horsegirl & Cowdaddy script two years ago at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, and I immediately wanted to put it on the Wilma stage,' shared Smiling. 'The play demands strong, innovative design, yet the story feels deeply intimate and sparks a larger conversation between rural and urban life. It invites magic into our world with a tenderness that breaks your heart open and hopefully leaves you with an appreciation for love, family, and happiness. It's a perfect piece for the Wilma to take on.'

The Wilma's upcoming season marks 30 years since it first opened its theater on the Avenue of the Arts. The theater has remained dedicated to creating adventurous art, engaging artists and audiences in imaginative reflections on the complexities of contemporary life. This commitment to artistic development and ensemble-driven work is represented in the season's opening world premiere production of Horsegirl & Cowdaddy, previously introduced to Philadelphia audiences through a staged reading in February 2026.

The co-production of Horsegirl & Cowdaddy features a talented cast of actors from Philadelphia and New York, with the titular Horsegirl portrayed by Princess Grace Award-winning, trilingual creator and performer Samora de la Brisa (fka Samora la Perdida) (she/they). Reprising their roles from the February 2026 reading presentation are award-winning Wilma Artistic Director and Founding HotHouse Acting Company Member Lindsay Smiling (he/him) as Cowdaddy and New York-based actor Ni-Ni (he/him) as the ambitious teacher Bethel.

The play is written by DJ Hills (they/them), a queer and trans writer for the page, stage, and screen. Their other plays include The Caelumids, our chronicle, and TRUNK BRIEF JOCK THONG, which was shortlisted for the Yale Drama Series. Hills's work has been developed with the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, The Workshop Theater, and Boston Court Pasadena. Hills is also the author of the poetry chapbook Leaving Earth and has been a Lambda Literary Fellow in Screenwriting. They are currently a resident of New Dramatists.

'It's been a special gift continuing to develop this play with Adil and Lindsay – and so many wonderful collaborators – over the last few years,' said Hills. 'Growing up just outside Franklin County, Pennsylvania, showed me there is magic in the world, from the way the corn grows to the love between neighbors. I'm excited the play is opening on a Pennsylvania stage and that I'm able to share some more of that magic with my neighbors in (and around) the Keystone State.'

Leading the world premiere of Horsegirl & Cowdaddy is Pittsburgh-based director Adil Mansoor (he/him), whose work centers the stories of queer people and people of color. His performance Amm(i)gone, an adaptation of Sophocles' Antigone framed as an apology to and from his mother, was co-commissioned by Kelly Strayhorn Theater, The Theater Offensive, and the National Performance Network, and toured nationally with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and PlayCo. Mansoor has developed work with many companies, including The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Playwrights' Center. He is a founding member of Pittsburgh's Hatch Arts Collective and the former Artistic Director of Dreams of Hope. Mansoor has held fellowships with New York Theatre Workshop, Quantum Theatre, and Sundance Institute and received his MFA in Directing from Carnegie Mellon University.

Mansoor leads a creative team featuring:

• Assistant Director Lane LaVonne
• Set Designer Jian Jung
• Lighting Designer Kate McGee
• Costume Designer Rebecca Kanach
• Puppet Designer Erik Ruin
• Sound Designer Johnny Gasper
• Intimacy Coordinator and Dramaturg Leo Mock

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