Cock by Mike Bartlett

L - R in background Caroline Gottlied, Miles Cooper, and Andrew Creer - Photos by Bailey Williams

By Joe Straw

John (Miles Cooper) isn’t much to look at.  He is thin, wiry, and slightly unkempt with a spotty three-day-old stubble.  Dressed in a jeans jacket, dark blue or black, with torn black pants and Converse tennis shoes that appear to be purple.  The best thing about him, people say, are his eyes, at least for those who venture that close.   

John is fed up with his relationship with his partner M (Andrew Creer), an always-right, smarmy sort, who is tall, built, untrammelled, with an Australian accent, and, truth be told, petulant. He is manly in appearance in the way of Errol Flynn, or Cary Elwes, but dogged in the way of a bossy Betty Davis.

Their main issues: they aren’t getting along, and their stories are getting stale.  They are always fighting like two cocks, always picking at each other, and trying to get the upper wing. In short, their dialogue is unpleasantly perverse as they go about maintaining their daily lives.

“I think we’re fundamentally different individuals you know that? – John

M, at this point, is slowly catching on, and the talk is moving towards breaking up.

“It’s not true.” – M

“It is true because I just said it so there it is”. – John

They can’t communicate without going at each other.

A few short weeks later, after the breakup, they meet again.  This time, John comes bearing teddy bears.  John says he still fantasizes about M and needs his help with a problem he gotten himself into.

The problem: John, bearing a tattered conscience, pleads (in his way) for reconciliation. He lets it be known that he has fallen in love with a woman; of course, M is not too happy about this.

“ I thought we were brothers.” – M

“You said that but I never understood.” – John

As it turns out, John tells M the graphics details of their relationship and says, “She thinks I’m straight.” And John also lets loose that she was like a “man” to soften the M(an) vs. W(oman) blow.

M retaliates and calls John everything in his book but offers a suggestion that the three of them should be one relationship short. M, in his own way, has decided to take John back but John is still uncertain as to the road he wants to pursue.

The play goes back in time – when John met W (Caroline Gottlieb) – and provides a dramatic re-creation of John’s breakup and his relationship with W.  

W was married at 23, divorced at 25, and now she is meeting John at 28 when she spills the beans on her loneliness and asks if he would consider “sleeping with a woman”. He sleeps with her, they separate, and then she stalks him. (Or at least John thinks she stalking him.)

Now, John needs help and M invites W for dinner to straighten their relationship out once and forever.  But M doesn’t want to do this alone.  He invites his father F (Robert R. Ryel) to help him at the dinner party to which all battle for their best interest.

Crimson Square Theatre Company presents Cock by Mike Bartlett, directed by Michael Yavnieli, and produced by Faye Viviana in association with Beverly Hills Playhouse and Cheshire Moon Inc., through November 17, 2019.

Cock by Mike Bartlett is a stunning work of art that rings true to its core.  It is a cockfight of two men and one woman being pulled apart in insurmountable ways. The play is a battlefield in a cock ring, poetic in manner, with characters engaged, releasing toxic words, unutterable thoughts spewed to love ones, vile words expressed that causes all to retaliate. They battle without physically touching each other as they engage through the impulses of daily sexual life – all for the sake of, and in the name of, love.

Michael Yavnieli, the director, adds an extra element to the play. It is the morning cockcrow to highlight, a moment, an awakening for mistake prone beings, or a regret, and all of these moments effectively move the action forward. Those moments are creative and give an inventive voice to the director.  Yavnieli’s work is thorough, inspiring, and manages to get the best out of each performer.  One note here, the set is bare – save for the four chairs that are used for the characters that are not in dialogue – Yavnieli makes a choice to have them face forward and in the light to witness the dialogue. The characters on the chairs seemed to be engaged at times, and at other times, not.

Miles Cooper

Miles Cooper is appealing as John.  There is a lot of backstory to his character, so his character has a lot of depth especially in dealing with his counterparts.  John carries with him a profound darkness in his loneliness, not really getting what he wants either emotionally or sexually. He can’t make up his mind and the others push him around the ring and into a hole for which he cannot escape. John dishes out as well – having his partner take off his clothes as a measure of control.  Cooper is terrific in the role and could add a little humor to the character. As confused as the character is, Cooper’s objective must be substantial, the makeup scene may not have gone far enough or creative enough to serve two purposes, getting back together, and getting much needed help. Still it was a very enjoyable performance.  

Andrew Creer is very funny as M as he relates to his counterpart in a very campy/bitchy way. M is tall and muscular and the complete opposite to his lover.  (How they managed to get together is beyond me.) M manages to have his way using his voice without resorting to his strength and size. Creer is a leading man with a strong voice and facial reactions that move the character in many delightful ways.

Caroline Gottlieb

No one says you have to be a man to be in a cockfight and W is there scratching and clawing like the rest of them. Caroline Gottlieb is W, a woman who holds her own. W finds a gay man and wants him for the rest of her life. Her biological clock is ticking and finding the man is essential. Two weeks of a relationship is enough for her to make up her bossy mind.  Certainly she thinks he is good in bed, or why would she bother? W is described as manly but Gottlieb wears something very feminine on stage.  She certainly can be feminine and dress very manly on stage. That note aside, Gottlieb has a very strong presence on stage.  She is a wonderful actor, her craft is outstanding, and her moments on stage are just marvelous.

Robert R. Ryel is F, M’s father. Ryel plays the character as a worldly sort.  He is someone who may not have liked John in the past but has grown to love him. He is measured in his approach not wanting to get physical unless he absolutely has to, but he is a voice of reason and someone who really loves his son.  There is a lot to enjoy in Ryel’s performance, his stoic manner creates a world where trouble slide from his shoulders. And, he tries to stay above the fray no matter what obstacle is thrown at him.  Ryel is terrific in the role.

Run! Run! Run! And take someone who loves getting up in the early morning light to see the cockcrow.  

Other members of the crew are as follows:

Carrie Muniak – Assistant Director

Andrew Blandina – Assistant Producer

Derrick McDaniel – Lighting Design

Ken Werther Publicity

Carrie Muniak, Benjamin Burt – Stage Managers

Jeffrey Sun, Carrie Muniak, Tania Gonzalez – Sound Design

Faye Viviana – Program Design

David Seltzer – Website Design

Ellie Schwartz – Theatre Coordinator

Marchello’s – Specialty Concessions

Tania Gonzalez – Music Arrangement

Caroline Gottlieb – Poster Design

Bailey Williams – Promo Photography

Bailey Williams, Tania Gonzalez, Emily Chapman – Social Media/Marketing

Jamie Shaverdi, Lindsay Jean Michelle, Carrie Muniak – Fundraising

Tickets: https://www.crimsonsquare.org/

Phone: 323-348-4979

Beverly Hills Playhouse

254 S. Robertson Boulevard

Beverly Hills, CA  90211

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