If some of the detail of Mike Bartlett’s Cock now feels a little dated, the skill of his writing is as fresh as ever, performed brilliantly at the Ambassadors Theatre.
‘The intimate moments are so credible it feels borderline voyeuristic sat in the audience’: COCK – West End
Watching Mike Bartlett’s play Cock today, it seems strange to think that it was actually written 13 years ago, as it covers themes that are so resonant with life in 2022.
‘This is an entertainment that is lit up by the excellence of its acting’: COCK – West End
Mike Bartlett’s Cock invites suggestive comments, but the main thing about the play is that it has proved to be a magnet for star casting.
‘Mike Bartlett’s play continues to fascinate & challenge’: COCK – West End
Theatre has always been a place to explore identity by using different character perspectives to consider points of view, social structures or inherited notions of what an individual can and should be.
Screen fame may be a major driver of ticket prices, but the breadth of British acting talent is vast
Television and big screen fame is a major driver for West End producers. Opened last week are Taron Egerton and Jonathan Bailey in a new production of Mike Bartlett’s COCK, and the lowest ticket price is £65, with the bulk at £100 or more, so it also translates to big prices.
‘Taron Egerton is utterly at home in the theatre’: COCK – West End ★★★★
Mike Bartlett’s mischievous, half-earnest play is about a gay man wrestling with his identity (and his furious partner) after falling for a woman. Who he loves both as a person and – to his confusion – as an anatomy. It’s clever to revive it in this even more gender-anxious time.
NEWS: West End production of the Mike Bartlett play C O C K will star Taron Egerton, Jonathan Bailey, Jade Anouka & Phil Daniels
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.
Being at home with who & what you are: Is actors’ openness about their sexuality the sign of a better future?
Mark Shenton reflects on the careers of two young gay actors, the late Marcus D’Amico and Jonathan Bailey (recently seen in Bridgerton), & their different experiences of the arts industry in different eras.
CD Review: Company 2018 London cast / Follies 2018 National Theatre cast
We should celebrate the fact that within the space of a year London has played host to stagings of not one but two Sondheim masterpieces that have all but redefined them in theatrical terms: Company and Follies.
NEWS: Come From Away, Company & The Inheritance are top winners at the Olivier Awards
Come From Away, Company and The Inheritance led the way with four awards each at the Olivier Awards 2019 with Mastercard, announced at a ceremony tonight (Sunday 7 April) at London’s Royal Albert Hall, hosted by Jason Manford.
‘Just one more trip to see this glorious show before it departs’: COMPANY – West End
Just the one more trip to see the glorious Company at the Gielgud Theatre before it sadly departs. Marianne Elliott’s multi Critics Circle Award-winning and Olivier-nominated revival of Stephen Sondheim’s modern classic must finish tonight (30 March 2019).
NEWS: Company, Come From Away & The Inheritance top the Olivier Awards 2019 nominations
Musicals Company and Come From Away top the Olivier Awards 2019 nominations with nine nods each, while The Inheritance is the most recognised play with eight nominations. The ceremony takes place on Sunday 7 April at the Royal Albert Hall, hosted by Jason Manford.
Debbie’s favourite male performances of 2018
Mind the Blog rounds up her favourite male performances in the theatre during 2018.
Mark Shenton rounds up news, reviews, interviews & controversies from London, New York & beyond
Mark Shenton offers reviews, news, interviews and tweets of the week from the West End, Broadway and beyond.
‘Theatrically, it feels like a proper moment’: COMPANY – West End
Marianne Elliott’s new and updated production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company is so utterly necessary. And I use the word necessary very deliberately.
‘Delivers the essence of the show in a way that speaks to us today’: COMPANY – West End
The moment Company opened younger audiences who had never seen it before similarly lamented that it could ever have been done with a man. ‘But it’s a woman’s story’. And for 2018 it is. It could only be.
‘Sure to sweep the next Olivier Awards’: COMPANY – West End
Marianne Elliott’s Company is a show for a 2018 audience. Take yourself down to the Gielgud Theatre to see the musical which is sure to sweep the next Olivier Awards.
‘Finds an entirely new lease of life’: COMPANY – West End
Phone rings, door chimes, in comes an adaptation of Company that subtly but definitively realigns it for a contemporary audience and makes you wonder how you could ever go back to the original as is.
‘Aaahh, Sondheim! It must run forever’: COMPANY – West End ★★★★★
Marianne Elliott’s production of Company is the comeback kid, another demonstration that Britain is natural Sondheim country: all dry wit and laughing resignation.
‘A version that may well change the musical forever’: COMPANY – West End
Marianne Elliott brings Company to the West End with a production that may well change the musical forever.