Dramaturgy for SUICIDE COWBOYS at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival

The Reuff at A.C.T's Strand Theatre, San Francisco
Sat, Sep 26, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Prof. Scott Horstein of the English Department will dramaturg upcoming readings of the new play SUICIDE COWBOYS by Greg T. Nanni, directed by Adam Sussman, at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival at The Rueff at ACT's Strand Theatre in San Francisco. The Bay Area Playwrights Festival is a major regional new play festival. 

Live in-person: Saturday, September 19 at 7 PM; Saturday, September 26 at 1 PM. 

On-demand video Oct. 19-25. 

In SUICIDE COWBOYS, Lucky, a suicide survivor, takes in Milo, half his age, moments after Milo has attempted to take his own life. As their wary friendship grows, so does a desert graveyard that takes over the stage, as the characters morph into two cowboys, a Wanderer and a Hunter, locked in a perpetual duel. SUICIDE COWBOYS is a searchingly heartfelt and frank journey into the meaning of survival, the myth of the Western, and what it means when a stranger blows into town. 

As dramaturg, Prof. Horstein has over the past five months served as script consultant to the playwright during the development process. The process began with a festival retreat in April 2026 at River’s Bend Retreat Center in Philo in the Anderson Valley and culminates in these public readings.