Review: Death Of The West

📍 The Bread and Roses Theatre

🗓️ 20th September 2025

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Written by Adam Spy, this new Western play takes you on a dark, funny and emotional journey, following three men coming to terms with a changing world. It explores loyalty, friendship, violence and loss and asks the question - “what survives when the West itself dies”.

Walking into the theatre space, you are instantly transported into the story as two characters sit onstage as music -and the audience- fill the room.

We meet four characters during the play. Isaac West (Dillon Berry) is a young, naive man with an idealised view of what a cowboy should be. Dutch West (Jim Tracey) is the more serious one, though he has a softer side deep down. Kieran “Sully” Sullivan (Samuel Bates) is the antagonist, a man who loves to provoke and push the others. Finally, Zane Grey (Adam Spy) is an English writer in search of his next story - and appears to be the one pulling the strings as the story unfolds.

At first, their relationships aren’t entirely clear, but the dynamics and their past start to make sense as the play goes on.

The writing balances tension with humour really well, breaking up the heavier moments just enough when needed. A standout moment is when Sully produces a guitar and convinces Dutch to sing — as the others join in, it creates a moment of warmth and bonding between them. The cast keep the audience engaged throughout, leading all the way to a dramatic and emotional ending.

The play highlights how a person’s legacy is often shaped by others, and makes you wonder who gets to tell someone’s story and what is remembered.

At 50 minutes, the piece covers a lot. There’s room for a bit more character backstory, but overall it works well. Western plays aren’t that common in theatre and honestly not a genre I thought was for me, but Death of the West drew me in and delivers a fresh and exciting take on it.

Produced by Poor Penny Production Company, it runs at The Bread & Roses Theatre until Sep 20th.