COCK, by British playwright Mike Bartlett, is soon to be premièring in Vancouver. It is a play that explores love, sexuality, coincidence, and the complex cacophony of who one really is. In COCK, the lead character John, while on a break from his relationship with his boyfriend, falls in love with a woman. He is then forced to make a choice, not only between his lovers, but also between the many sides of himself.
COCK, winner of the 2010 Laurence Olivier Award, opens on October 30 at the Rumble Theatre. COCK's Director Stephen Drover, who graduated from UBC in 2002 with a MFA in directing, is now the Artistic Director at the Rumble.
“[COCK] presents characters in situations that … in order to understand them, you really have to get under their skin and get past stereotypes,” said Drover.
No character is the antagonist or protagonist. According to Drover, the play discusses the modern fluidity of identity. In fact, if any one character could be categorized as the antagonist or protagonist, it would defeat the point. In real life, people are much more complicated than black-and-white heroes and villains. What captivates Drover about this show is how it expresses the complexity of people as they really are.
“A man is being told he has to decide which way he turns … but it’s not actually about bisexuality,” he said.
The main tension in the play is the reality that people's' identities are uncertain and cannot be categorized.
“In the bigger picture, the play confronts binary perspectives of sexuality. It talks about identity … It’s not about who he likes, it’s about that he doesn’t know who he is. Sexuality is a way into a conversation about identity,” said Drover.
Bartlett’s play won’t leave the viewer with any singular take-away point. Rather, after many years of writing and directing plays all across the UK, he has created a show that leaves the viewer questioning rather than answering.
“I don’t think Mike Bartlett was interested in saying anything. I think he was more interested in asking questions," said Drover. "COCK doesn’t have a strong message … rather a challenge for the audience to consider things they haven’t considered before.”
COCK will run from October 30 to November 8 at Performance Works on Granville Island.