SALT LAKE CITY — Save the Cow, a full-fledged fringe show at the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival’s Opening Day, written and directed by Merry Magee, opens up with the scene of a bunch of college graduates sitting at a dull commencement speech. At the end of the celebration the five graduates dance and celebrate as Jac, uncredited in the program, is interrupted by her creepy and controlling boyfriend, also uncredited, where they perform a quite explicit and haunting dance that shows her being controlled by him sexually, emotionally, and physically. As a therapist as well as a critic, I felt that this was handled so well, looking at all the emotions that encompass feeling trapped.
What follows is a show full of metaphoric dance, acting, and nuance. I am still not sure I grasped everything author Magee was trying to bring to the front of her on the surface whimsical tale of Jac hitchhiking across America and running into as is billed in the advertisement of the show “queer misfits” trying to “steal an abused cow from a neighboring farm.” While the storyline seems a bit odd and out there, the theme that came through of starting a next chapter and being able to be yourself was poignant and impressive.
The small cast of five represented a sense of freedom, and their incorporation of dance as a medium in the production was a great choice. I liked seeing how the choreography was not just for entertainment, but it actually advanced the plot and told part of the story. From the pain in the first scene with Jac and the abuse, to the joy and freedom of the cow (honestly not a sentence I would have thought I would ever write, which is why it is fun to go and see shows at a fringe festival), learning how to storytell through dance shows good understanding of the medium.
Costuming was also a great part of this production. The character of the cow was quite symbolic of how bodies can be used and abused, and the costume design combined with the dance when the cow comes to grips with what life was like in captivity was a gritty look at what it is like to be forced to have your body used for purposes that you did not choose.
There is a moment in the story where one character in frustration tells another that they have made too much of a mistake and they ruined things. The solo dance after that insult moved me to tears. The other thing about this production is that the cast is full of different body shapes, sizes, and genders, but the costuming reflects what one would traditionally see in a beautiful dance show. Watching a body move gracefully that would normally be covered in shame had its own sense of freedom as well, because the bodies on that stage were all beautiful.
The Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival has a rating system, and this show is rated as a Full Fledged Fringe, which is an R-rated equivalency. As I have said to many clients in my day job, abuse is ugly. I cannot imagine tackling such subject matter in a “family friendly fashion.” I do understand the need for ratings and encourage those sensitive to these things to be aware, and at the same time am encouraged that we are opening the topic of performance as healing in such a beautiful way. Save the Cow was a healing evening for me, and I hope to any others who attend.
These reviews are made possible by a grant from the Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts, and Parks program.
