Directors Note

Directing The Cow Play has been an incredibly exciting experience. The Cow Play is the first SuTCo production to be staged in an alternaive venue. Everything you see in the space tonight has been made/rigged up/designed by students in SuTCo. We've put up our own lighting rig, built all the set, hired in the chairs you're sittin gon, and have worked so hard to bring this produciton to life in the space. I think this is an incredible thing.

The Cow Play could not have happened without the hard work and dedication of so many, and I am so grateful to you all. Firstly, thank you to Kieran and everyone else at CADS, for not only letting us have the space, but also for being so kind and helpful and not minding when we came down most Fridays to have a look at the space.

Becca and Kitty - At the very beginning there was only you two. I have been continually inspired by your drive and excitement for this production and I cannot thank you both enough for everthing you have done.

Seb, Martha and Rob - Thank you from bringing Holly, Owen and Tom to life. I know being in a small cast can often be draiing and quite intense during the rehearsal period but you have lal been so dedicated from the start and I cannot thank you enough. You're all so great!!!

To our designers and crew - Many of you are new to SuTCo, and to come in and create the world of the play in a space completely unfamiliar to us as a theatre company is a remarkable achievement. You should all be incredibly proud, you have done something wonderful.

James Bailey and Jonny Cooke - you have been amazing tech officers/managers. This productin couldn't have gone ahead without your willingness to work hard and make it happen. Thank you to the SuTCo Committee and to the many many members of SuTCo, who have supported this production from the word go and have very much been a part of putting on the play. Even just asking how the play is going, or telling me that you're excited to see it has meant the world to me. So thank you x

And thank you to you, whoever you are, for coming to see The Cow Play and supporting SuTCo.

I leave you with words from the man himself, Ed Harris:

"I wanted to explore the effect a typically 'hidden' compulsion or psychological illness can have on a relationship. I chose cows because of the etymological roots of one such illness, but more importantly because of a cow's nature. Cows have a kind of elegance and serenity, and in the same breath they're relatively unintelligible, emotionally - giving them a sort of eerie emptiness. You don't necessarily have to turn into a beetle to alienate, or be alienated by the people who love you. You might be becoming something that, at times, you even consider beautiful."