Cock: a viciously comic battle of the genders
26 Jan 2025 - Photos by Dahlia Katz

The Talk is Free Theatre company is renowned for its site specific productions and for Cock, the audience is arranged around a small but cavernously high space. The action occurs, initially, on a small narrow runway but soon expands into and above the audience. It is brutally intimate as the four actors tear into each other with lacerating comic wit. The premise is simple, John and M are in a longterm gay relationship, but John has begun a sexual romance with W, who is a woman. Cock begins with John and M trying to sort out what it means to their relationship, before backtracking to John and W meeting to begin their relationship. It climaxes with a dinner party, hosted by M, where John is supposed to make his decision because, as M states, "It's totally fine to like both, just not at the same time." To complicate things, M has enlisted his father, F, to join them to make the case for the stability of a homosexual relationship. And to provide author Mike Bartlett (Cock) and director Dylan Trowbridge (Julius Caeser) to accentuate the debate by escalating into uproarious and vicious farce.

What initially seems topsy-turvy, we're all familiar with the trope of the woman whose husband goes downlow, has much more serious stakes. Michael Torontow as M, is hyper-masculine—tall, muscular with tattoos and a moustache—and has no qualms about gaslighting or even threatening. He also has the advantage, as a gay man, of being aware of how bitchy he is being and delighting in it. Channeling Crawford as a spirit diva is second nature and very entertaining. What is questionable is just why, beyond a blistering sexual heat, he clings so desperately to John. Tess Benger (The Man with the Golden Heart, Alice in Wonderland, Sunday in the Park with George, Girls Like That) as W, is more calm and collected but as John hurls at M, and there is evidence, "I love you but sex with her is better." W is hyper-feminine—it is a running joke that John has misrepresented her as "manly"—but has a spine of steel. She gives as good as she gets. Kevin Bundy (Sisters) as F, has wandered into the war zone with a wonderful speech of how he learned to accept John and M's relationship, but is unable to deny W's taunts that he is sexually attracted to her.

The center that will not hold is Jakob Ehman (Roberto Zucco, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The Circle, Nature of the Beast, Cockfight, Donors, Firebrand) as John. As the man who desires both, and is desired by both, he is also a cipher, becoming what the other wants and reacting passive-aggressively in order to get what he is not sure he wants. Ehman is a marvel as he feints, retreats, plays coy, and dithers as he promises both M and W that they are the one he wants. When M questions, "What is it about you?" John answers "My eyes. I've never received compliments on anything else" it is disingenuous but also true. We are in such close quarters that Ehman's eyes burn, blaze, tear up and dart sideways as he seeks a way out. He doesn't know what he wants but we suspect it is that he is enjoying the battle and just wants to be wanted. To be won by the one who wants him the most. He has an affecting monologue about being an outcast until finding a home in the gay community, where he finally felt like he belonged. It contrasts, complements, another monologue where he extolls the virtues of having a family and wondering about the sense of belonging to society at large. Yet F, representing society at large, is firmly on M's side.

Cock raises more questions than it answers and it is probable that one's own biases and orientation will influence one's reactions. I was startled to find how much empathy I had for W, but much of that is due to the strength of Benger's performance. All of the actors throw themselves full throttle into their characters and make definitive cases for their point of view or lack thereof. There is a bit of a disconnect in the sheer theatricality of Cock's design. None of the props—teddy bears, a roast beef dinner, red wine—make an appearance, they are just described. As a reminder to pay attention to the words, it is pointed, but it also moves us out of the play for crucial split seconds. The breaking of the fourth wall also extends to the lighting which the performers themselves manipulate, sometimes it is dramatic and apt, occasionally it is overly theatrical when the words are already high drama, near melodrama. What does work extremely well are the sex scenes—the gay one behind a veil and the straight one fully clothed and mimed—that manage to be scintillatingly hot while making the important point that the words matter more than the deeds. That love matters more than sex. W says, "I'm not a woman, I'm me." and we see that Bartlett is searching for a humanity beyond the labels of gender and humanity. No wonder John is confused. And though Cock dates back to only 2009, 2024's John needs to do some research on polyamory.