About This Show

In preparation for an Off-Broadway production in 2008, Axis Company is developing material concerning Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. One of the most successful events in theatrical history, Cody’s pageant became a large contributor to the beginnings of our national identity; Buffalo Bill literally created it from his own imagination and memories. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West was an unprecedented conglomeration of exhibitions concerning legendary frontier life for which audiences as early as 1875 were already nostalgic. In the space of a few years, and unlike any other nation in the world, America had populated its wild country, cleared it of Indians and joined both coasts with a web of telegraph poles and railway lines. In Cody’s live show, Indians and soldiers who had participated in real frontier battles performed in staged versions of the incidents. Settlers who had been attacked by desperate prairie bandits were attacked again in front of spectators by real outlaws playing themselves. Our concept and understanding of the Wild West and our recent pioneer history was largely created live, on stage, in William Cody’s circus.

Buffalo Bill Combination: Exhibition #1 is a high production value workshop of a mutable piece.

Show Details

Dates: Opening Night: June 11, 2007 Final Performance: June 13, 2007