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This past year has seen a plethora of new plays that have been received very well by both critics and audiences.
Other Desert Cities,
Venus in Fur, Peter and the Starcatcher,
Clybourne Park and
The Lyons are at the top of that well received new play heep with many of these plays having transferred from off Broadway to Broadway with the first four in the running for the Tony for Best Play this year.
Now comes a somewhat controversial play,
Cock, who's title alone elicits both nervous laughter as well as intrigue. Interestingly enough of all of the new plays I saw this year, including many in that illustrious list above,
Cock is the one that is still playing in my mind days after seeing it. It is not only that good of a play but one of the most ingeniously directed plays I've seen in a long time.
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| Jason Butler Harner and Cory Michael Smith |
The premise of the play is simple and when stated in two sentences actually sounds a little like a plot in a soap opera as well as somewhat hokey - John decides it is time to take a break in his relationship with his boyfriend and when he does he unexpectedly falls for a woman even though he had never had those kind of feelings before. He must then choose which one he wants to be with. Like I said, a bit hokey and simple.
However playwright Mike Bartlett has crafted a 90 minute play with such depth that it is unlike anything I've seen in a long time. Simple it isn't.
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| Jason Butler Harner, Amanda Quaid and Cory Michael Smith |
John, played by Cory Michael Smith is the younger member of the gay couple at the center of the play. Jason Butler Harner is "M" the older and more controlling half. He exudes control but also a strong need to have John in his life. We've seen Harner in several plays before and this is a truly breakout role for him. Smith is also doing great work here in a part that requires many quiet moments.
While it is easy to see why these two should take a break in their relationship, Bartlett has written such smart dialogue for both of them, and the other two characters as well, that one can also see how connected the two are. Bartlett doesn't need to add extraneous material in order for us to completely understand exactly what is going on between these two, while they should be together as well as why they shouldn't. The play might sound intense but it also contains smartly written dialogue that adds a considerable amount of humor to the intense situations.
Amanda Quaid is "W," the woman whom John meets and falls in love with. She is perfect in the part with the right balance, like Harner, of control and need. The interesting irony is the only difference between "M" and "W" is their sex, as they are both extremely controlling people who aren't really that nice to John as both of them want what they want. When the three come together that is when the real fighting begins as both "M" and "W" make their moves to sway John to pick them as the victor in the ultimate "cock fight." And, while John seems like a nice, young and attractive guy, so we can easily see why both "M" and "W" desire him, he also is a very indecisive person and obviously sexually confused. So all three main characters have their pros and cons, just like real people, and are likable enough to see why John is drawn to them and vise versa, but at the same time they are all somewhat unlikable as well - again, all naturally realistic characters.
The fourth character in the play is "F," "M's" father. Cotter Smith plays the part with the requisite amount of charm and love toward his son. He is fighting for his son's relationship as well, something any gay kid would love to have his father do for him. Interestingly enough Smith recently played the father of a gay character in the play
Next Fall, but in that play he played the father a gay person would never want to have.
Bartlett has crafted a very intriguing character in John, one who can't quite figure out how he fits in the various "labels" that the modern world puts on people, as "gay" and "bi" and even "straight" don't seem to help him find his way. It is an interesting point of view and opened my eyes to how society "rewards" or acknowledges people for certain things like "coming out" as well as how sometimes what might seem like the easy way might not be that easy at all - ie: living a straight lifestyle. As a gay man I always thought that a "bi" man who lived a "straight" life was really gay but just couldn't admit it and I never imagined a character like "John" who starts out living a gay life but then finds himself drawn toward women really existed, but after seeing
Cock I now find myself having a different understanding for people who say they are "bi" as well as for those who feel they don't quite fit in. Like I said before, this play has really opened my eyes to many things.
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Cory Michael Smith, Cotter Smith,
Jason Butler Harner and Amanda Quaid |
Smith perfectly plays the confusing and sexual intrigue that the role of "John" requires and I'm looking forward to seeing what other roles the future holds for him.
Besides the smart dialogue, what elevates the play into something out of the ordinary has to do with the way the play is staged. The entire action of the play takes place on a circular stage that is surrounded on all sides by five rows of seats inside a large walled wooden auditorium. The setting is reminiscent of where one imagines an actual cock fight would take place. Not only are we as the audience no more than twenty or so feet from the actors but we can see every audience member throughout the play as there is no theatrical lighting here with the audience lit as fully as the actors. We are watching the "fight" unfold in front of us as well as everyone's reaction to it just like we would at a prize fight. The picture above gives you an idea as to the stage setup, you just have to imagine an audience filling in the bleachers behind the actors.
We are witnesses to every fight and plee that each character undertakes, and this is a play filled with many loud arguments and emotional outbursts. Director James Macdonald, who also staged the London run of the play, has not only drawn perfect performances from his four actors, he has also created some scenes that will forever be etched in my memory. Two of them that quickly come to mind- the scene where John and "W" have sex for the first time which is staged as a dance between two people moving around in a semi-circle as they come closer and closer to each other, reminiscent in some ways of two fighters dancing around their target, and the final scene where what John doesn't say tells us exactly what he is thinking. And, back to that sex scene for a moment - there is such a rawness and nakedness to the character's in the play but since this is a minimalistic approach even in that sex scene the actors remain completely clothed even though the characters are obviously not. I can't think of a sex scene in a play that is more real and more emotional only in the words that are spoken since nothing sexual is seen during it. The same can be said about the rest of the play, it is emotional and raw without the trappings of sets and costumes that most plays feel they need to have.
For the majority of the play between each scene is a simple bell tone as if to indicate the end of one round and the beginning of another just like you'd hear at a fight. The only thing missing was a spit bucket for each character and a towel to wipe off the sweat. As much as I liked that correlation to an actual fight, the end of the round bell sound virtually disappears toward the last half of the play as the scenes got longer. I think the bell needed to keep ringing as the stakes got higher and the outcome kept switching, especially since during those last longer scenes there were natural breaks when characters move from one "room" in an apartment to another, so the bell sound could still have worked as a scene break. But that is a small quibble when compared to the sheer brilliance of this place and how it is staged.
The only problems with this production have to do with the somewhat pretentious use of "M" "W" and "F" as character's names - I'm assuming Bartlett means "man" "woman" and "father" but why not just give them names like he did for John? Also, the somewhat uncomfortable nature of the bleachers is a major deterrent. Though, I don't know if maybe that was the intent as when you're eavesdropping on all of these private moments maybe you shouldn't be so comfortable in doing so.
Still,
Cock is one of the most original, intelligent and thought provoking plays I've seen in a very long time- highly recommended.
all photos credit: Joan Marcus
Official Show Site
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Which Cast Recording Would You Want Most?
The new Broadway play Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris comes to Broadway with a pretty high pedigree. It won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2011 Olivier Award for Best New Play. I'm not certain if it is because I went in with somewhat high expectations knowing the play had won those awards but I was basically underwhelmed by the play. 
Wow! The new cd from Robert Creighton might just be the best debut recording from a Broadway performer in years. And why I say that is not only due to Creighton's impressive vocal abilities, the song selections and the Broadway guest stars he has included but also because Creighton completely avoids all of the fall backs Broadway performers seem to lean on when releasing a debut recording. There are no songs from Sondheim or Lloyd Webber, no story songs from some hip or up and coming composer and except for two original songs, the most recent selection was written in 1944. This is definitely not your usual Broadway debut solo cd. 