David Cale’s BLUE COWBOY Extended At The Bushwick Starr
Directed by Les Waters, the world premiere solo work explores desire, connection, and confession.
By: A.A. Cristi Oct. 22, 2025
The Bushwick Starr is presenting the world premiere of Blue Cowboy, written and performed by David Cale (Harry Clarke, Lillian, We’re Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time) and directed by Les Waters (Dana H, Grief Camp, Eurydice). The production runs through November 8, 2025, with performances Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. at The Bushwick Starr (419 Eldert Street, Brooklyn). The official opening took place October 18.
In Blue Cowboy, a New York writer travels to Ketchum, Idaho to work on a film script set in Sun Valley. A chance encounter with a mysterious ranch hand during the town’s “Trailing of the Sheep Festival” alters his plans and his life. The frank, sexually explicit solo play unfolds as a deeply personal story of two men—one open, one secretive—who share an urgent need for human connection. Told with Cale’s trademark vulnerability and emotional candor, Blue Cowboy examines intimacy, identity, and the boundaries between truth and performance.
The creative team includes Colleen Murray (Set & Props Design), Kaye Voyce (Costume Design), Mextly Couzin (Lighting Design), Tei Blow (Sound Design), Siena Yusi (Stage Manager), Maia Tivony (Assistant Stage Manager), and Noah Willis-Hogan (Assistant Costume Design). Lucy Jackson serves as Line Producer, and artwork is by Brenna O’Brien.
Blue Cowboy was commissioned by The Sun Valley Playwright’s Residency, an initiative of The Community Library’s Hemingway Writer-in-Residence Program in association with Sawtooth Productions. Development was supported by a residency and workshop performance at Ancram Center for the Arts (Jeffrey Mousseau and Paul Ricciardi, Directors).
About David Cale
David Cale’s acclaimed works include Harry Clarke (Lucille Lortel Award, Outer Critics Circle Award), Sandra, Lillian (Obie Award), Deep in a Dream of You (Bessie Award), and We’re Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time (Obie, Outer Critics Circle, Jeff Award). He is also a songwriter and composer whose music has been featured in Employee of the Year (Public Theater, Bessie nomination).
About Les Waters
Les Waters is a Tony-nominated and multi-Obie Award-winning director whose work has appeared on Broadway and at major theatres nationwide. He has directed at Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, and BAM, and served as Associate Artistic Director at Berkeley Rep (2003–12) and Artistic Director of Actors Theatre of Louisville (2012–18).
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