Cock – New Theatre – Review by Helen Major

Blue Heart Theatre – May 23rd – May 28th @ 7.30pm
Written by Mike Bartlett
Directed by Geoff O’Keefe

Writer Mike Bartlett has won much recognition for his writing, including Tony and Bafta nominations. His show ‘Cock’ is one of three shows fetching Oliver awards for him, and looking at the script it is no wonder why. The writing is witty, fast paced and engaging.

It’s about a man who breaks up with his male partner only to fall unexpectedly in love with a woman, despite never having been attracted to women before. It deals with themes of identity and forced social labelling, and touches on love, loyalty and gender. This production served as an excellent showcase for Bartlett’s work, though some of the other aspect of the show were weaker.

The set was deliberately simple. No furniture, no props. This worked well, and was well executed for the most part. The backdrop, however, is a little confusing. It seems to depict a run down public bathroom with pealing tiles and broken light switch boxes. I found it hard to establish the relevance of this setting to the content of the play, but overall it serves as an adequate neutral space, belonging to no one. They might have been served better with something more abstract, however.

In terms of staging, there were some really great moments. The single sex scene was especially good, and there were chunks of the second half that were impressive too. However, this was not consistent throughout, and there were moments – particularly near the start – that were quite clunky and repetitive.

The performances were a little lacking, also. I didn’t find the chemistry between the male couple believable, and a couple of comedic lines got lost in delivery. However the second half of the show was much stronger in this regard, and all performers settled into their roles much more comfortably when they were required to convey tension and drama.

Generally, it was a weaker production of a strong script. It wasn’t entirely without merit, and when they got it right they got it really right. However, there were some technical missteps that didn’t do the team justice, and took away from the overall effect.