Two Cowboys and the Sky
by lovebug + worm

Two Cowboys and the Sky is a physical storytelling and dance performance for audiences ages 3-7 and their adults, featuring live music and audience participation. It was created and performed by Florence Logan and Hope Kennedy, under the duo name lovebug + worm, with musician-performer Samuel Pahsby.​​

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Two Cowboys and the Sky celebrates getting distracted, not being able to pick just one favourite, and wanting to do everything all at once. We had so many ideas and we decided to do them all: 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 loved all the instruments Samuel could play, so we picked every single one! Through its game-like episodic structure, we constantly surprise the audience with new trios, with new characters, musical instruments and movement styles, which allow us to showcase the endless and expansive discoveries we can make by paying attention to the world around us and the friendships present in all pockets of life. Everything in life dances, we just need to pay attention.We invite the audience 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. In Two Cowboys and the Sky, we celebrate the hyperlocal and work with the belief that you don’t have to look far to encounter the unknown, the fantastical, the befuddling, and that there’s always more to explore in the worms that live under the garden gnome, in the heavy heads of two dandelions, holding each other up, in the gossiping birds sat on the telephone wire, in the parts of the street that always puddle when it rains - all on the walk to school. 

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 Through the use of music as narrative and the show’s episodic and eclectic structure with all its bizarre beginnings and unexpected ends, if someone does leave the room, for whatever reason, the performance doesn’t leave them behind. We embrace getting distracted and the discoveries we make along the way. In Two Cowboys and the Sky, we didn’t pick one story and we don’t want to make our audience pick either. We recognise that us, on stage, is not the only story in the room, but that there are countless others, whether that be the story of the lights changing, the textures of the seat, or the new friend next to you. We welcome all of this as part of Two Cowboys and the Sky, and invite the audience to bring all of that with them as they finish the performance with us, bow and all. 

 

This performance was originally created as part of our 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 was 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.​​ In 2025, we partnered with Home Start, the Village Storytelling Centre, Creative Hangouts and Platform to deliver workshops.

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An audience member's 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. "​​