Strathmore connection to theatre collective
By Lorenzo Gavilan Vargas Times Reporter
BrownCow Collective, a theatre company based in Alberta, is holding shows of the Tony award-winning musical Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. The show will be running Thursdays to Sundays from July 3-18 and will take place on an outdoor stage on a farm in Olds, to ensure health and safety guidelines are met.
Established in 2019, BrownCow Collective maintains a focus on bringing older works into the current age, and that is no different in this case. Hair, the musical’s first showing was in the 1960s.
“Every theme that we explore in this musical reveals to the cast and myself how relevant they are today,” said Director Sabrina Naz Comanescu. “From love to heartbreak, conformity to harmony and war to understanding and sympathy – it is as if we never left 1968.”
Two members of the cast have close ties with Strathmore. Ensemble member and understudy Robin Murray has lived in the town since January of last year.
“I used to live in Calgary. My dad grew up in Strathmore and then after I finished high school, I moved out here with him,” he said. “I’ve come out here all my life for summers.”
Murray said working with like-minded people is a large reason behind his interest in theatre.
“It’s fun to hang out and get to know each other, learn from each other and grow from each other. It’s also just good to see when people come to see your show, to see them smile and have fun when they’re watching the show. Especially in these crappy times, it’s good to see people have fun.”
The other cast member with ties to Strathmore is Associate Director Tenaj Williams. Like Murray, he did not grow up in the town, but is connected through his family. Williams lists his sister, her family, his aunt, uncle, other aunt and grandparents as all having moved to the town.
“I just have a bunch of family that moved to Strathmore within the last 15, 20 years … my sister was the first one to move out there just to slow things down; they didn’t necessarily like the city as much. From there, once my other family saw what that life was like, they all just migrated out that way thinking that this was something that interested them,” he said. “It’s a beautiful little town, and I definitely spend more time there than I thought I would.”
Williams, an experienced actor, is excited to take his first foray into a directing role.
“It’s something that I wanted to try while I could, you know, we’re off of theatre now, so I feel like it’s a great time to get on the other side of the table and see it from a different side. I’ve really enjoyed working with these artists. They’re a bunch of emerging artists and I remember what it was like to be doing productions like these. It’s been a really amazing space.”
If you want to see the show and see Murray and Williams at work, tickets are available at the BrownCow Collective website, browncowcollective.com.