Taron Egerton, Jonathan Bailey, Jade Anouka and Phil Daniels will star in C O C K, the first West End production of Mike Bartlett’s Olivier Award-winning play about love and identity.
Directed by Tony and Olivier Award-winning Marianne Elliott, it will have a limited run at the Ambassadors Theatre in London from 5 March 2022 to 4 June 2022, with a press night on 15 March 2022.
‘The fact is that some of us like women and some like men and that’s fine that’s good in fact that’s good, a good thing, but it seems to me that you’ve become confused.’
John (Bailey) is happy in himself and with his boyfriend (Egerton), until one day he meets the woman of his dreams (Anouka).
Marianne Elliott said:
“I feel so excited to be working on this beautifully crafted and hilarious play by Mike Bartlett. It keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. A truly theatrical piece in that it asks the audience to enter the imagination of the storytelling – as only live theatre can do. It’s also all about the acting so to have such a talented, highly experienced, stellar cast is an absolute dream!”
Mike Bartlett added: “I love Marianne Elliott’s work and have done for a long time, so I’m thrilled to be able to collaborate with her on this revival. Especially with this incredible cast, which I know will bring both a fresh take and vast experience to a play about love, identity and the passionate human being.”
Joining Elliott on the creative team are: designer Merle Hensel, lighting designer Paule Constable, sound designer Ian Dickinson, composer Femi Temowo, movement director Annie-Lunette Deakin-Foster, casting director Charlotte Sutton, vocal coach Hazel Holder and associate director Chloe Christian. C O C K is produced by Elliott & Harper Productions.
Bios
Taron Egerton won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Sir Elton John in Rocketman and also recorded the original song for the film I’m Gonna Love Again with Sir Elton which went on to win Best Original Song at the Academy Awards. He will next be seen starring in Blackbird, a limited series drama for Apple TV alongside Paul Walter Hauser, Tetris directed by Jon S. Baird and produced by Matthew Vaughn for Apple + and is also set to star in Claire Denis’ romantic drama thriller Stars at Noon, opposite Margaret Qualley. Egerton shot to fame when he played Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin in Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Secret Service and reprised the role in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Other credits include Eddie the Eagle, Testament of Youth, Legend, Sing, Robin Hood, and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. On stage he has appeared in The Last of the Haussmans at the National Theatre and Tommy in No Quarter at the Royal Court Theatre.
Jonathan Bailey won an Olivier Award for his ground-breaking role of Jamie in Marianne Elliott’s West End revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s musical Company. Bailey plays Viscount Anthony Bridgerton in the Netflix’ period drama, Bridgerton, a role he is reprising in the second series scheduled for release in 2022. His other TV credits include the ITV series Broadchurch, Leonardo da Vinci in Leonardo, Me and Mrs Jones, Doctor Who and WIA (all for the BBC) and Crashing and Chewing Gum for Channel 4. His theatre credits include David Hare’s South Downs, American Psycho at the Almeida Theatre, The York Realist at The Donmar Warehouse, and King Lear (alongside Sir Ian McKellen) for Chichester Festival Theatre.
Jade Anouka’s recent TV credits include Ruta Skadi in BBC/HBO’s His Dark Materials, Channel 5’s The Drowning and ITV’s Cleaning Up. Her film credits include Ear For Eye, Fisherman’s Friends and Last Christmas. In theatre Jade has played the title roles in Hampstead’s Olivier nominated The Phlebotomist and Queen Margaret at The Royal Exchange. Other theatre credits include Moon On A Rainbow Shawl at The National Theatre, Doctor Faustus in the West End and the Donmar Warehouse Shakespeare Trilogy where she played Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, Hotspur in Henry IV and Ariel in The Tempest. She wrote, directed and co-starred in a short film – Her & Her for BBC’s Culture In Quarantine series which has since got in to 23 film festivals.
Phil Daniels’ early films include Anoop and the Elephant, Bugsy Malone, Breaking Glass, Scum and the central role of Jimmy in Quadrophenia. He starred in a 1985 British snooker musical, Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire. More recent films include playing the voice of Fletcher in Chicken Run, Free Jimmy, Freebird, Vinyl and The Hatton Garden Job. He narrated tracks Parklife and Me, White Noise on the Parklife and Think Tank albums for Blur. On TV, he played Kevin Wicks in EastEnders and appeared in Sunnyside Farm, Time Gentlemen Please, and Rock and Chips. His theatre credits include: The Merchant of Venice, The Jew of Malta and A Clockwork Orange for the RSC, This House for the National Theatre, King Lear at Chichester Festival Theatre and Thenardier in Les Miserables in the West End.