Cock
15 Minutes from Anywhere
30 January 2019
fortyfivedownstairs
to 10 February
fortyfivedownstairs.com
UK playwright and tv writer Mike Bartlett wrote this play in 2009 and it's been on stages ever since. Its content about gender and sexuality already felt a bit dated at the time but it's not what Cock is about.
John (Matthew Connell) is the only named character. He's in his early 20s and living with his sorta-serious boyfriend (Shaun Goss). On what seems like a regular break, he meets and shags a woman (Marissa O'Reilly) and they like each other. The boyfriend is upset, more so because she's a woman. The boyfriend's dad (Scott Gooding) is also confused and is an active fighter in his son's corner.
Designer Emily Collett uses the pillars in fortyfivedownstairs to create an intimate in-the-round space. This creates the feeling of a boxing ring – especially on a far-too-hot summer night – and the instinct to cheer for a winner. And it forces the audience to look at each other as much as the action. It's much easier to pick a side when you can get your cues from the rest of the room and know who to cheer for.
What makes the script continue to be fascinating – even when the characters get a bit ranty – is that there isn't a hero to cheer for. As John can't make a decision, neither can the audience. Seeing John with both lovers lets us see him lie and do his best to protect everyone, mostly himself. In his mind, he has to make a choice and, as much as he wants someone to make it for him, no one gives him that easy way out.
Watching each relationship spa, there are so many more questions asked than the characters ask themselves. Some answers are obvious from the outside; who doesn't think they know the solution to other peoples' relationships? If it were rom-com destined love, it'd be a cinch to choose. But the cast make sure that their characters don't see the bigger picture; they don't romanticise them or let them see beyond their own wants and needs.
While the characters are almost unsympathetic, director Beng Oh (co-founder of indie company 15 Minutes from Anywhere) keeps the action so close to each character's unknown emotional truth that, even if we don't easily like them, it's easy to find empathy and sympathy for them. And, as the tension builds, it becomes just as emotionally difficult to decide what we want them to do.
Or, of course you want Cock for Midsumma!
The MTC production from 2014.
