Bosses start to look like their dogs. Or vice versa. Or owners like dogs who look like them. Or vice versa. Either way. If you want proof of this statement, rush to Theatre Festival Boulevard where John Buijsman plays the gem 'Cosmic Cowboy', assisted by Kees, a labradoodle. Or something that should pass for that.
John Buijsman is one of the most Rotterdam-like actors we have in this country, and not just for his accent. I always get nostalgic for my hometown when I see and hear Buijsman, because of his grumbling fatalism that is always just a bit more cheerful, southern almost, than the Amsterdam variety, of which the world is already so full. The je-ne-sais-quoi of the Maas City flows through his veins, and anyone who says that is just Maas water is not so far from the truth. But that's where you go right on.
Creation story
To call myself a fan is going a bit far, but I also admire Buijsman for his stamina, and especially his courage to keep exploring unbeaten paths. Cosmic Cowboy he made for living rooms and gardens during Corona. It tells the story of an old man looking back on his youth, but also on his inevitable passage to death. In a setting that comes across as a bit campfire-like, he becomes a little boy near a dead horse, flies into a Panorama photo and ends up in a reverse creation story as a cowboy dying of gangrene in a nondescript hotel room in the Wild West.
Confusing? It doesn't really matter, because Buijsman is Buijsman with the dog-eyes that look at you like you're the best boss in the world, even though we'll never really understand each other. Whether he reads from the Bible or sings a cowboy song: it's always right, and it gives hope, that things will be all right one day, even if everything goes wrong.
With Kees next to it, the coldest August day in years could then not go wrong.
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