From left: Jefferson Escobar Rivera, Kobe Rivas Galdamez, Jake Swery and Yaliek Miranda. Photo contributed
Life can be so short, but when you're a cowboy it can feel like forever. As the curtain comes up and the lights are turned on our main characters, Chet and Stu begin to sing and play an interesting tune on the guitar. Jake Swery, who played the lead role Chet used the character as a representation of life and optimism, but with life there is always death. Jefferson Escobar Rivera who played Stu, showed that life is very short and death is always around the corner.
Both men used multiple techniques to keep their watchers entertained and always hooked. Throughout the entire story, Chet and Stu stayed in their comedic roles and always kept a mid-western accent which was barely ever dropped. Ensemble actors, Yaliek Miranda and Kobe Rivas Galdamez gave the show life by creating sounds and scenes with only their bodies. Both Yaliek and Kobe showed a very important part of the plot by switching sides with Chet and Stu representing the circle of life. The entire plot was very interesting as it showed how they resembled life and death and that the circle of life would go on no matter what. Each actor did an amazing job with their roles and gave off crazy and wild vibes to the character.
With their chaotic and wild story, stage manager, Meena Megahed used creative lighting by giving off a desert and mid-western setting. She also did a phenomenal job of lighting the stage to show day and night with only an orange-colored light. To the director who brought the whole show together, Mr. Scott Pafumi was very clever using each of the props and showed the symbolism in each prop. His set choice was extraordinary with a small four person cast by using a small blackout space and mid-western objects like wooden barrels and stools to bring his set design together. The costume choices were very interesting because it seemed like the director was trying to symbolize the costume colors which brought more questions and kept the audience hooked.
Herndon High School theatre department has pulled together a wild show straight from the west. With the doppelganger ensemble and the chaotic leads, this in-person show was outstanding and was definitely worth watching for its plot and comedic cast.