Have you ever seen a scene in a movie where they’re trying to get a dog to decide which owner it likes best? The set the dog in the middle of the room while the two contenders call to it, seeing whose call will make the dog yield. John, the central figure of Mike Bartlett’s Cock, is the dog in this scenario. He’s fallen for two people, and both are trying to claim John as their own. Directed by Dylan Trowbridge, this immersive experience puts you in the heart of the tension, both sexual and emotional.

John has been with his partner for years; they live together in his partner’s house, they cook together (although his partner says John isn’t a very good cook), and they have a tendency to argue. John initiates a breakup, which devastates his partner. During this time, John meets a woman whom he frequently sees on his way to work. One thing leads to another, and suddenly John finds himself questioning everything: his wants, his sexuality, his relationship, and who he is as a person.

This struggle for identity, and how it gets wrapped up in our sexuality, is the core struggle of Bartlett’s text. John is quite the pushover: it seems that he’s made very few choices for himself in his life, and now that he’s confronted with the biggest one yet, he doesn’t know what to do. We actually get very little of John’s thought process until the very end; throughout the play he’s happy to just follow his instincts and then what his various partners tell him he should want. It’s frustrating and sad all at the same time: it’s easy to tell that having to make the decision is tearing him apart, however he is the one who’s put himself into this situation and isn’t taking responsibility for his actions. His notion of who he loves is so intrinsically enmeshed with who he is, that by discovering a new aspect of himself he feels like everything has to fundamentally shift.

The Artist Play Studio is the current home for this production of Cock, and the industrial bare brick room where the play takes place has the perfect aesthetic for this gritty and powerful story. The lighting for the space is entirely controlled from on stage; the actors are able to press extension cord buttons to turn on and off certain lighting elements depending on the scene. Adding to the ambiance is the tarp which sections off the playing space from backstage. This tarp is then used for shadowy projections when characters are in the hallway of the home. The four main seating locations for the actors are placed in line with the audience; we’re more than flies on the wall, we’ve essentially been invited to sit at the table with them.

Jakob Ehman gives a stunning performance as John. His expressions tell so much of the story and his physicality throughout deftly portrayed his inner turmoil. Michael Torontow plays M, John’s initial partner. Torontow’s stage presence is unmatched, and his delivery of his more witty lines had me laughing out loud. His stature and how he holds himself is such a stark contrast to Ehman that you understand their dynamic immediately. Tess Benger delivers an engrossing and commanding performance as W; she is everything from sweet to sassy and all that’s in between during this show. When her ferocity comes out is when Benger truly shines and it’s a joy to watch. Kevin Bundy rounds out the cast as F, M’s father. His stern presence and direct delivery make him a formidable addition to the cast and a powerful force on stage. This cast exudes a sexiness and sensuality which makes it easy to understand how this love-triangle happened.

Throughout Cock, I kept coming back to David Rose’s iconic line from Season One of “Schitt’s Creek”: “I like the wine and not the label, does that make sense?” It’s not just the casual yet comprehensible description of David’s sexuality that makes this moment so special, it’s Stevie’s automatic understanding of it which is emblematic of the show’s unique, and essentially utopic, level of acceptance. John doesn’t receive that level of grace in Cock, rather he gets badgered by everyone around the table to choose, to make a definite statement of being which will define him.

Cock runs at the Artist Play Studio at 388 Carlaw until January 31. For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.tift.ca/shows/cock

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Cover Photo: Jakob Ehman and Michael Torontow. Photo by Dahlia Katz.

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Listen to my interview with Talk Is Free Theatre’s Artistic Director Arkady Spivak here: https://aviewfromthebox.net/a-view-from-the-box-the-podcast/

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