COCK Review – A Well-Crafted Work

Sometimes theatre is grand and epic in scale, like Goodman Theatre’s recent production of The Penelopiad. Other times, it’s intimate, with just a few actors, a small crew, and a handful of audience members. The latter is the case with COCK, written by Mike Bartlett and directed by Wren Wesner in a production currently running at Open Space Arts. The play takes place in a space no larger than a studio apartment, with just four actors and room for twenty audience members circling the playing space.

The story centers on John, who has a serious romantic problem: he can’t decide between his boyfriend of many years and a woman he’s just met. Adding to his inner struggles is the fact that he’s always thought of himself as gay and has only experienced attraction to men─until he meets this particular woman, that is. Seemingly incapable of embracing the concept of bisexuality, despite the suggestion from others that that might be his orientation, John proceeds to expend impressive amounts of angst trying to settle on his identity, partner, and life path, until everything comes to a boiling point at a dinner with John, both his lovers, and one unexpected guest.

For a work with a title like COCK, this is surprisingly tame. Sure, there are a few sexual encounters, but they’re stylized carefully so that the participants never actually touch each other, removing much of the urgency from the proceedings. It’s as if, even in his most passionate moments, John can’t fully connect with himself and the people around him. Indeed, it’s this quality of John’s, as well as his apparent lack of interest in the interiority of the people around him aside from trying to avoid their negative opinion of him, that makes him so infuriating as a central character. I have never wanted to punch a fictional character in the face so much as I did with John throughout this play. And perhaps that’s the point, but it makes it awfully hard to root for any ending except John winding up single.

The acting here is strong. The cast deftly handles Bartlett’s short but packed script, with its language that flows like chocolate syrup─too smooth not to be artificial, but delicious nonetheless. The British script, with its references to the Tube and the characters’ flats, does feel a bit odd in the mouths of American actors. Still, the small group of performers shines. Eliot Hall perfectly embodies John’s unbearable anxious waffling. Kevin Woodrow is sharp and clever with a much-needed hint of vulnerability as the boyfriend, called only “M”, and Sonya Shea Robinson is full of tenderness and life as the sole female character, “W.” And Michael Lomenick is remarkably compelling in his short time onstage as surprise guest “F.” 

Though not as scandalous as its title might imply, COCK is still an engaging, well-crafted work. The play zooms in on just a few characters at just a few moments in time, and the result is effective. This is only the fourth production from Open Space Arts, and I look forward to seeing what they do next.

Ticket Information

Location: Open Space Arts, 1411 W. Wilson Ave., Chicago

Dates: April 4 – 21, 2024

Tickets: $25.00 ($20 for seniors and students, $15 for OSA members). Tickets available at this link. For more information, visit the Open Space Arts website.

Photos by Teri Talo.