In Cock, the primary subject is sexual orientation – both its fluidity and its constraints. of late because of his incisive way of tackling public and political issues through the lens of private, personal interactions. Bartlett, whose other plays have been staged at the Royal Court ( My Child, Contractions), the Bush Theatre ( Artefacts), and the National Theatre ( Earthquakes in London, 13), has been so widely embraced in the U.K. After all, Cock is a language-based play in the end. It’s a wholly engrossing way of approaching the topic of sex without resorting to gratuitous nudity. Much of the action of the play is suggested rather than enacted, but rather than detracting from the proceedings this approach only serves to heighten the tension by placing our focus on the text of the play.Īs John and W approach their first sexual encounter (his first with a woman), they inch along face-to-face in a circle as they talk about each others’ bodies. Moments of sexual or confrontational contact are staged so that the actors never actually touch. Within this tautly-paced structure, scenes, as strictly individuated units within the framework of the play, begin to dissolve into an almost filmic tapestry of emotionally-charged confrontations and exchanges.Īdding to the brisk pace of the piece, James Macdonald has directed the play without the use of props and with little in the way of showy stage business. When one conversation reaches an impasse, the bell sounds and a new scene begins. The play shifts in time from scene to scene at the sound of a bell. Mixed up and confused, John ends up stringing both M and W along to the point at which it becomes clear that the outcome can be nothing other than a complete and utter mess.īartlett’s way of constructing the play is truly innovative for how it breaks down theatergoers’ expectations. Though he’s thought of himself as strictly gay since college, finding positive reinforcement, even comfort, in the label, the very foundations of his self-identification begin to shift at their core when he realizes his feelings for W encompass not only emotional attraction but at least some degree of the physical as well.ĭespite his desire to be with W, he still finds himself bound inextricably to M (Jason Butler Harner at his acerbic best), whom he refers to as “a brother,” even deigning to consult with him about his newfound feelings for W.
#Jason butler harner nude series
John (Cory Michael Smith, likable and impassioned) finds himself attracted, in spite of his predilections heretofore, to W (Amanda Quaid, top-notch), a woman with whom he crosses paths thanks to a series of chance eyefucks during their shared morning commutes. In subsequent scenes, the two men realize their ways of thinking about things make them “fundamentally different people,” enough so that they should end their relationship and forge their own paths. Contained within the theatre’s usual auditorium is a cylindrical plywood structure with padded bench seating in the round, a circular green-carpeted playing space at its center.Īs the play begins, our protagonist John and his longtime boyfriend M (aside from John, all other characters carry alphabetical names) are in the midst of a spat over John’s cooking, as well as his way of speaking and gesturing with his hands.
It’s clear, as an audience member entering the Duke Theatre on 42nd Street for the Royal Court Theatre’s production of Mike Bartlett’s Cock, that there’s something unique about what’s to come.
0 kommentar(er)
