Cock- "This is theatre in the round at its very best"

Mike Bartlett's play Cock is an unusual offering for Chichester. It takes minimalist staging to an extreme place with no set, no props, no costume changes and very little physical contact between the four actors. We are left to imagine the action and concentrate on the rapid fire words they speak which are littered with an excess of the F-word. Yet it works and produces a fascinating ninety five minutes of engaging drama that makes you think about sexuality and your closest relationships.

Bartlett clearly sees these protagonists as opponents in a verbal fight and the director Kate Hewitt has the cast circulating each other as if in a Sumo wrestling circle , a bull ring or two cocks set to fight each other. When one character's father enters the arena he positions himself as a referee or umpire in the verbal exchanges. The setting and direction creates the competitive tension as the man and the woman fight to win over John who is torn between his love for both. We first meet John and the man, his lover, in a series of short witty exchanges separated by a flash of red lights and a buzzer, almost like the bell between rounds. You could also imagine each of the four characters sitting in each corner of the ring and their verbal battle being played out in a tag team bout.

It makes for a gripping and thought provoking play which depends on the four actors disciplined and intense performances as they only have the words, and more importantly the awkward pauses between them to communicate their feelings and thoughts. Even when the scene depicts them making love they never touch but sway and gently move as they each speak. Matthew Needham is excellent as the gay man fighting (at times bouncing and jabbing with his hands) to keep John who Luke Thallon plays. John shows a wide range of emotions from love and excitement, to uncertainty and confusion as he is torn between the two and is unable to reconcile his feelings leaving him trembling by the end. Isabella Laughland is the 28 year old woman he meets on the way to work each day and falls for and Simon Chandler is the man's father. He tells John "I think you need to work out what you are first". The man tells John "it is o.k. to like both men and women, but not at the same time".

It shows the quality of the writing that this production can be so enthralling and moving when staged in such a stripped back simple way. In the end is not about sexuality or sex at all but about what it takes to make a relationship last.  This is theatre in the round at its very best and the Minerva is a perfect venue for the production.

Nick Wayne

Four stars