The Old Fitz Theatre has had a revamp of late under new management, Red Line Productions. The second play of Red Line’s inaugural season is Mike Bartlett’s Cock, and they’ve pulled no punches in selecting this as one of their opening productions.
John (Michael Whalley) is stuck in a tired relationship with a loving but pedantic partner. Unhappy and on a break, he has an affair with a woman – his first experience of the opposite sex. Now confused and full of guilt, he is stuck in a twister of insecurities while surrounded by two people who fight to claim his love as their own. John decides the three shall meet over dinner, where all literal hell breaks loose.
The play takes on the adult-age sexual awakening from a different angle, not only with a gay man exploring a potential hetero relationship, but also in raising the questions of normality and sexual orientation in a contemporary age. Society may expect certain heteronormative activity in relationships. However, these aren’t John’s norms, so the confusion and shame when he strays to the ‘other side’ are real for him.
The play is ultimately a feat of performance, with a full cast firing on all cylinders. Whalley is excellent as John, while Matt Minto offers the perfect dichotomy to John’s confusion while showing a maze of his own insecurities. Brian Meegan gets special mention having come to the cast at the last minute, a week after coming offstage in Ensemble Theatre’s Absent Friends, and playing the father role with a perfect mix of patriarch and contemporary dad. The approach to props and sets (i.e. there are none) as well as nudity puts the full focus on the dialogue, with the audience asked to use its imagination and all actors in complete focus throughout. Despite the subject matter this is a darkly funny play, full of quick wit on the modern relationship, whatever the definition.
4/5 stars
Cock is playing at the Old Fitz Theatre until Friday March 6.
