COWBOIS | Siren Theatre Co

Production Images: Alex Vaughan

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

Kate Gaul’s direction is spirited and mischievously playful ... As Jack, non-binary actor Jules Billington delivers a riveting, impassioned performance that swiftly earns our allegiance ... Production designer Emelia Simcox excels across both costumes and sets ... Brockman’s lighting shifts deftly between warm, atmospheric glow and bursts of exuberant spectacle, lending the production an invigorating dynamism. The action is further enriched by an expansive soundtrack devised by Crighton, whose intricately crafted soundscape transports us wholly into the world the play conjures ..." SUZY GOES SEE

" ... its gunsmokin’, all singin’ and dancin’ cast and live music, it is full on, mostly fun, and it has plenty to say about sexuality, gender, equality, toxic masculinity and love ... what also sticks in the mind, are the effervescent performances and dancing from the energetic cast of 16. And Cowbois also has an original soundtrack and music from Clay Crighton. Cowbois is out there, and it’s out to break a few barriers with song and dance, and tongue-in-cheek banter." MEGAPHONE OZ

"Director Kate Gaul has done an excellent job bringing variety, energy and poignancy to this play. She balances a great mixture of ideas, action, comedy, music and romance with consummate skill. The large cast and crew have delivered an impressive production." SYDNEY ARTS GUIDE

★★★★★ "Kate Gauls direction was bold and brave, taking a tricky script and delivering a piece of theatre that felt truly cohesive. With many moving parts it would be easy to feel lost in a piece like this but under Kates hand there wasn’t a dry eye in the house by the end. A vital and vibrant piece of theatre that feels truly necessary in our current climate" STAGE DOOR

★★★★ "Ambitious, eye-opening, and fun! The show is good to look at, and director Kate Gaul has coaxed solid performances from her principals" STAGE NOISE

★★★★★ Siren Theatre’s production ... an absolute visual delight, a whole lot of fun, and a poignant cry from the heart ... director Kate Gaul creates visual magic. The use of space is wonderful and the tableaux alone are spellbinding. Lighting design by Brockman and sound design by Aisling Bermingham add to the enchantment. Clay Crighton’s original songs complete the charm ... superb performances ... " THEATRE RED

★★★★ "... a visual feast ... a take on how power can be wielded in ways that are both strong and positive, focusing on qualities like courage, responsibility, integrity, and kindness ... . impressive ..." THEATRE NOW

"the real bullets are exuberance, defiance, and discovery…. A queer genre mashup that refuses definition, "Cowbois" is rebellion made luminous. The West was never this wild ... very, very sexy .." FAITH IN THEATRE

"Kate Gaul has assembled a marvellous cast to portray this satirically quirky and funny version of a well-worn tale. It’s a lovely finish to Seymour Centre’s 2025 program." SOUTH SYDNEY HERALD

"Shaking up the Wild West genre, this play with music reconsiders the standard stories with a queer and feminist lens to present a town where cis het men aren’t the heroes of the tale and society is all the nicer for it ... this is a fun piece of theatre that presents some stories not often seen on stage." BROADWAY WORLD

"... the themes of the production premised not only on inclusivity but also on telling stories that are rarely told in theatre. Rather than casting non-binary actors into cisgendered roles, this is a production primarily concerned with telling the stories of non-binary individuals, which highlights the importance of this work and its place in the theatre landscape ... a bubbly and moving performance ... "MUSICAL THEATRE

" ... there is an undeniable charm to "Cowbois" that is hard to resist. When Lou (Faith Chaza) steps out as their true self, it’s hard not to be swept up in pride and relief. I found myself smiling broadly the whole time ... I felt a real sense of relaxed exuberance surrounding the show. If you’re after an explosion of queer joy, this may be just the ticket." CULTURAL BINGE

"Cowbois is a riotous show ... Cowbois is profoundly queer positive fun and with a cast bursting with toe tapping enthusiasm, and impressive performances .." STAGE WHISPERS

It’s 1883 in the Wild West and 2025 at the Seymour Centre, because Cowbois rides both timelines at once, yanking the dusty myths of cowboy cinema straight into the now.

When Charlie Josephine dove into classic Westerns, they found a genre clogged with racism, heteronormativity, and women written thinner than tumbleweed. So, they stole the swagger, ditched the bigotry, and rebuilt the Western with queer voltage. A Trojan horse in spurs, Cowbois smuggles big ideas about gender, sexuality, and class into what Josephine calls “a really great night out.”

Real cowboys were far more diverse than Hollywood’s lantern-jawed fantasies, and Josephine draws on trans histories and global gender-nonconformity to reclaim that truth. Their outlaw hero, Jack Cannon (Jules Billington), blows into a half-asleep frontier town run by its womenfolk and flips the place like a card table. Confident, charismatic, unapologetically trans masc, Jack ignites a full-bodied reckoning with identity, power, and possibility.

This may be a story about a quiet town blooming into a queer utopia, but Josephine wanted it to welcome everyone. The challenge? Fuse rebellious, sweaty queer joy with a satisfyingly “straight” storytelling spine. The payoff? A show where trans audiences feel seen, queer audiences feel lifted, and newcomers get swept into something they didn’t expect but won’t forget.

“It feels exciting when a trans person is grateful to see representation onstage, or a queer person is grateful to see two queer people fall in love,” Josephine says. “To achieve both in one show feels like a huge achievement. I’m really proud of that.”

Rehearsal Room images: Pollyanna Nowicki

First Performance was given by RSC at The Swan Theatre, UK on 14 October 2023

MEET THE MAKER: PRODUCTION DESIGNER EMELIA SIMCOX

Emelia Simcox brings a rare blend of heritage, craftsmanship and innovation to Cowbois. A UNSW Design and Applied Arts graduate, she began her career through a coveted Scenic Art traineeship at Opera Australia, learning the scale, discipline and alchemy of theatrical illusion. That early work sparked an international chapter across London and Ireland, where she expanded her expertise in design, scenic art and large-format visual storytelling.

Returning home, Emelia went on to lead the scenic art departments at Sydney Theatre Company and Opera Australia, helping shape some of the nation’s most ambitious visual worlds. Alongside her theatre work, she founded SIMCOX, an acclaimed wallpaper and fabric design label that merges hand-drawn scenic techniques with contemporary digital print. Each design begins as a full-scale artwork before being scanned into layered digital compositions that honour the integrity of the human line. The result: a look that is atmospheric, contemporary and alive to natural light.

Her artistic roots run deep. As the daughter of designers and scenic artists, she grew up inside Sydney’s paint shops surrounded by glitter, canvas and possibility. Watching her father, Cliff Simcox, shift from display art into theatre and television shaped her belief that design is both craft and calling. “It was a magical world of illusion,” she recalls. “I fell in love with the idea of creating an entirely new world on a thin piece of canvas.”

Today, Emelia is a practitioner who can paint a horizon by hand, build a world in Photoshop, and conjure a universe that feels handmade, timeless and daring. Her advice to emerging designers: "work hard, stay brave, stay original, enjoy the ride, and make the work for yourself first."

As she continues expanding SIMCOX and designing for stage and screen, Emelia brings that blend of tradition and invention to Cowbois — a frontier town ready to be rewritten.

MEET THE MAKER: COMPOSER, LYRICIST, MD & ACTOR: CLAY CRIGHTON

Composer, lyricist, music director and performer Clay Crighton is a dynamic multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans theatre, songwriting and classical performance. Originally from Wollongong and proudly non-binary, Clay brings a rich eclecticism to every project, shaped by training across diverse theatrical and musical traditions.

Clay has been performing on stage since the age of eight, supported by a foundation in classical violin and a long-standing passion for songwriting and vocal performance. Their artistic life has been built through a deep curiosity about storytelling in all its forms, from intimate music-making to large-scale theatrical worlds.

Before graduating from the Actors Centre Australia in May 2022, Clay worked extensively to hone their craft. This includes the Actors Studio at NIDA, and the world of immersive Suzuki practice with physical theatre company Ninefold. They also undertook a mentoring workshop with actor and director Tony Bonner.

As a performer, Clay has appeared in a growing body of acclaimed work, including Eamon/Violinist in Once (national tour/2024 Green Room Award), Angelo/Cupid in Love and Faith Qtopia/Acoustic Theatre (2024), and Ernie in Misery Loves Company KXT/Legit Theatre Co (2024).

Clay moves fluidly between roles as actor, songwriter, and violinist, bringing a distinctive creative voice grounded in versatility, musicality and a deep sense of narrative insight.

For Cowbois, Clay shapes the ambience and sonic texture of its subversive Western world, weaving grit, tenderness and queer defiance into a musical environment that drives the story’s reinvention of frontier mythology.

Whether composing, performing or guiding musical landscapes from the MD’s chair, Clay’s practice is driven by sensitivity, rigour and a genuine love of building worlds through sound.

Charlie Josephine (He/They)	Kate Gaul (She/Her) Director	Jules Billington (They/Them) Jack Cannon
Brockman (They/Them) Lighting Designer	Matthew Abotomey (He/Him) Sheriff Roger Jones	Aisling Bermingham (She/Her) Sound Designer
Faith Chaza (They/Them) Lucy/Lou	Bianca Dreis (She/Her) Stage Manager	Rhiannon Bryan (They/Them) – Intimacy Director
Emily Cascarino (She/Her) Miss Lillian	Branden Christine (She/Her) Mary	Clay Crighton (They/Them) Composer/Lyricist/MD & Charlie Parkhurst
Eve Fielding (She /Her) Assistant Designer	Nelson Fannon (He/Him) Tommy's Toothless Boy	Matilda Holton (She/They) ASM
Lana Filies (She/Her) Chaperone & Tommy's Toothless Boy	Nicholas Hiatt (He/Him) Frank/Tommy's Toothless Boy	Lara Lightfoot (They/Them) Associate Director
Danica Lani (S/He) - Choreographer	Henry Lopez (He/Him) - James	Jess Nipperess (She/Her) Assistant Director
Jane Phegan (She/Her) Sally Ann	Edward O'Leary (He/They) George	Aimie McKenna (She/Her) Jane
Emelia Simcox (She/Her) Designer	Kirsty Semaan (She/Her) Rehearsal Observer	Zachary Aleksander (He/They) Toothless Tommy
Leon Walshe (He/Him) John	Beau Jordan (He/Him) Kid	Rory Spinks (He/Him) Kid
Ollie Jenkins (He/Him) Kid