We are all familiar with the cows that paint roadway billboards that read “Eat more Chikin.” The fact that cows cant spell comes across as endearing and cute. The fact that they are calling for the slaughter of countless chickens to save their own hides makes sense but might make more sense if they wanted everyone to become vegetarians or eat vegan.
This play, Now with Chikin was staged entirely on a billboard platform as two cows wrestle with the ethics of what they have been hired to do. The female cow had a pink fanny pack where her utters would be and the male cow wore a pink baseball cap. A slick advertising executive showed the audience that had a chart showing that the most successful advertising campaigns had cute animal mascots, like the Geico lizard. To sell more chicken, animal mascots were needed. The executive recruited a disgruntled female cow who was angry about the genocide of her species for burgers on Memorial Day. The other cow was concerned about raising enough money to raise his family. He did the job but had concerns about how chickens would now be murdered.
An angry chicken started throwing tomatoes at the cows as they worked. Tomatoes meant for the cows also bounced off into the audience. She had plenty of activist spunk. This was a fun premise for a show but it would have worked as a short much better than as a full length production. I started to drift as the cows discussed the ethics of their profession.
