Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company is an Obie Award and Caffe Cino Award winning NYC downtown theatre company first established in 2000, with a mission towards the creation and production of theatrical events based in

stage combat Stage combat, fight craft or fight choreography is a specialised technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet p ...

and dark comedy with a comic book edge. They began on the campus of

Ohio University Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subseq ...

, moving to NYC in 2002. The company has been a resident company at Center Stage, NY (2005–2008),

HERE Arts Center HERE Arts Center is a New York City off-off-Broadway presenting house, founded in 1993. Their location includes two stages specializing in hybrid performance, dance, theater, multi-media and puppetry in addition to art exhibition space and a cafe ...

(2009–2010), Incubator Arts Project (2011–2013), and The New Ohio Theater & IRT (2013–2015). The company is led by artistic director

Qui Nguyen Qui Nguyen is an American playwright, television writer, director and screenwriter. He is best known for his plays, ''She Kills Monsters'' and "Vietgone." He is also known for writing ''Raya and the Last Dragon'' and '' Strange World''. Care ...

and Robert Ross Parker. Past productions include the cult Off-Off Broadway shows: ''Geek!'', ''The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G'', ''Alice in Slasherland'', ''Soul Samurai'', ''Fight Girl Battle World'', ''Men of Steel'', ''Vampire Cowboy Trilogy'', and ''Living Dead in Denmark'', which featured special effects by Chuck Varga, co-founder of the shock rock band

GWAR Gwar, often stylized as GWAR, is an American heavy metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia in 1984, composed of and operated by a frequently rotating line-up of musicians, artists and filmmakers collectively known as Slave Pit Inc. After th ...

. The first theatre company to ever be sponsored by

New York Comic Con The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. History The New York Comic Con is a ...

, Vampire Cowboys is often credited for being the pioneers of "Geek Theatre", a subgenre of theatre that often incorporates action-adventure, sci-fi, gaming, and/or comic book themes into live theatre. The company was praised by

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

as "New York's Best Army of Geeks". The Vampire Cowboys had their work documented in a doctoral dissertation on martial arts on the American stage from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

in 2011.

References

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External links

Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company website

Feature article from The Brooklyn Rail

Feature from TIMEOUT NEW YORK

Asian-American theatre Theatre in New York City