HAS John straightened out? After years glued to his boyfriend, the couple have been through a sticky patch, and now John’s attached to someone else.
SOMEONE who is different in every single way. But can John give her what she wants, when he’s never been with a woman before?
Funny and eye-openingly fresh and frank, COCK is a provocative peep into modern relationships. It tussles with knotty twenty-first century questions: can we – and should we be allowed to – change if we want to?
Mike Bartlett is one of this generation’s leading writers for stage and screen. His award-winning work includes King Charles III (Almeida, West End and BBC) and the hit television series Doctor Foster. The Olivier Award-winning Cock premiered at the Royal Court and off-Broadway in 2009.
Luke Thallon, who plays John, was nominated for the Evening Standard’s Emerging Talent Award for his role in Mike Bartlett’s Albion at the Almeida Theatre. His other theatre work includes The Inheritance (Young Vic) and Misalliance (Orange Tree Theatre); he was the recipient of the National Theatre’s Michael Bryant Award 2017, and the Society of London Theatre’s Laurence Olivier Bursary Prize 2016.
Matthew Needham will recreate his starring role in the acclaimed production of Summer and Smoke when it transfers from the Almeida to the West End later this year. His recent theatre work also includes The Twilight Zone and The Treatment (Almeida) and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (Globe); he previously appeared at Chichester in Bingo and The Grapes of Wrath.
Isabella Laughland played Leanne in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Her theatre work includes Cordelia in Chichester’s 2013 production of King Lear; Pride and Prejudice (Sheffield); The Last of the Haussmans (National Theatre); and Wanderlust at the Royal Court, for which she was nominated for the Evening Standard’s Outstanding Newcomer Award.
Simon Chandler has previously appeared at Chichester in The Stepmother, For Services Rendered and Cavalcade. His extensive screen work includes The Theory of Everything, Mr Turner, The Iron Lady, The King’s Speech and The Crown.
Kate Hewitt directs. Winner of the JMK Young Director Award and the inaugural RTST Director Award 2016, Kate was recently named as one of Variety’s ‘10 Brits to Watch in 2017’. Her credits include Peter Morgan’s Frost/Nixon at Sheffield, Caryl Churchill’s Far Away at the Young Vic, and Midsummer (National Theatre of Scotland/Edinburgh International Festival 2018); future work includes Jesus Hopped The A Train (Young Vic 2019).
COCK will be designed by Georgia Lowe, with lighting by Guy Hoare and sound by Giles Thomas.
The production is sponsored by Genesis Town Planning.
Event: COCK by Michael Bartlett
Contains very strong language and scenes of a sexual nature. Age guideline 16+
Where: Minerva Theatre, Chichester
When: September 28 – October 27
Time: 7.45pm matinees 2.45pm Press night on October 4, 7pm
Cost: Tickets from £20 – Prologue tickets for 16 – 25 year olds for £5.
To book tickets online, click here:
SPECIAL EVENTS
♦ Pre-Show Talk with Kate Hewitt – Wednesday, October 3, 6pm: Free but booking essential.
♦ Late with Kate Mosse & Mike Bartlett – Tuesday, October 16, post-show
♦ Writer Mike Bartlett talks to novelist Kate Mosse about his celebrated dramas for stage and screen Thursday, October 25, Post-Show Talk. Stay after the performance to ask questions, meet company members and discover more. Free, but booking essential.
