Two Cowboys and the Sky
'Two Cowboys and the Sky' is a physical storytelling and dance performance, featuring live music, for children aged 4-8 and their adults. This performance is created and performed by Hope Kennedy and Florence Logan, under the emerging artist duo lovebug + worm.
Photos by Julia Bauer
We couldn’t decide what we wanted to make a show about, and so we decided to make it about lots of things: from high-heeled, haughty and fly-hungry frogs, all the way to rock n’ roll snowflakes, and who could forget the wryly rats in the swanky sewer, and of course, it’s about cowboys too. And we couldn’t decide what instrument we wanted to play, so we chose ten different ones!
In this performance, we explore how everything in life dances, we just need to pay attention. This sensorial and sensitive performance invites the audience to celebrate the music, movement and friendship present in all pockets of life. Two Cowboys and the Sky invites you to care for the seedlings stuck in the rubbish, to listen to the horizon and the wise old mountains, to remember how much life is dancing at the bottom of the sea, and most importantly, to come and dance with us too. An ever-changing live musical soundscape accompanies this adventure.
This performance was originally created as part of the Contemporary Performance Practice degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, with musician Scott J. Brice. As part of creating this show, Florence and Hope led dance and movement workshops for children aged 3-6 at Dundee Rep and at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in collaboration with Short Courses and St. Columbkille's primary school.
This performance has been funded by Creative Scotland's Open Fund to engage in an R&D in June/July 2025, with musician-performer Samuel Pashby, and with support from Platform, SUPERFAN and Glass Performance.
Watch the R&D trailer with musician Scott J. Brice here:
An audience member experience:
"My three-year-old was scared of theatre: before Two Cowboys and the Sky all but one performance we went to (and we tried so many) ended in tears and fears. She was scared coming into this performance as well, but I could see her relaxing from the start - first she found the courage to sit down, then to come closer, and by the end she was on stage in full on participation. This is all because Two Cowboys and the Sky is a dialogue: children (and adults) are given ample choices (different seats, different instruments to consider), performers greet the audiences and make sure they are invited into the show, and then performance vignettes rotate different worlds and characters, with something for everyone.
Two Cowboys and the Sky is also a rare find amongst children's theatre. It is not just that it doesn't look down on young audiences or that is as engaging for adults; it is also that it presents performance as play - a way to discover, invent, and explore different stories and creatures. My daughter spent the remainder of the day 'playing' Two Cowboys and the Sky, finding different trios to test ('two cars and a bicycle!', 'two flowers and a cloud') and perform on her own. Whenever we go to theatre now (and we do, Two Cowboys broke the spell) she recalls the game again - it has become a shorthand for performance in our house. "