COCK

by Mike Bartlett

A Mockingbird Too production

Director: Zachary Bridgman with Chris Baldock

Season: 1-4 July, 2026 at The Mockingbird Studio, Belconnen Arts Centre

The performance will run for approximately 90 minutes with no interval

By Arrangement with ORiGiN™ Theatrical, on behalf of RIGHTS HOLDER

Synopsis

John has been in a stable relationship with his boyfriend for years. But when he unexpectedly falls in love with a woman, his world is thrown into chaos. Suddenly forced to confront the labels that society insists on placing upon him, John must navigate desire, identity, loyalty, and love.

As his boyfriend and his new lover face off in a tense dinner confrontation — with the arrival of a blunt father figure — John is pushed to make a choice he may not be able to make.

COCK is a sharp, funny and deeply human examination of sexuality and identity, stripping relationships down to their rawest emotional truths. The play premiered at London’s Royal Court Theatre starring Andrew Scott and Ben Whishaw and won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre. It was revived in the West End recently starring Jonathan Bailey and Taron Egerton.

Critical Response

• “A sharp, witty study of indecision and identity.” – The Guardian

• “Whip-crack smart dialogue… that makes you laugh and think.” – Theatre Press

• “Visceral, funny and anguished.” – Village Voice

From the Director:

COCK is a play about certainty. Or, more accurately, the complete lack of it.

When John unexpectedly falls in love with a woman after years in a relationship with his boyfriend, what begins as a simple question quickly becomes something much more unsettling. Friends become advocates, lovers become rivals, and every conversation becomes a contest over who John is, who he should be, and whether anyone else gets to decide.

Written by Mike Bartlett in 2009, COCK has become one of the defining plays of the twenty-first century. Funny, uncomfortable, deeply compassionate, and occasionally brutal, it refuses to offer easy answers. Instead, it asks us to sit with uncertainty, recognising that identity is often far messier than the labels we reach for.

This production is presented alongside Bartlett’s BULL, staged here at the Belconnen Arts Centre just two weeks later. While the stories couldn’t appear more different, they share the same DNA. Both explore people under extraordinary psychological pressure, where language becomes a weapon and every exchange is a struggle for power. One battle is fought over love. The other over employment. Neither allows anyone to leave unscathed.

Our production embraces a deliberately stylised approach. Performed in a boxing ring and stripped entirely of props, the world is built through language, movement, rhythm, and imagination. Every scene becomes another round. Characters circle, feint, retreat, attack, and defend, while the audience surrounds them as silent witnesses, unable to intervene.

Working with James Phillips, Eli Narev, Adelaide Hayes, and Paul G Hutchison has been an absolute privilege. Their intelligence, generosity, fearlessness, and razor-sharp instincts have shaped this production at every step. It has been a joy watching them navigate Bartlett’s extraordinary writing and discover the humour, vulnerability, and quiet heartbreak beneath every exchange.

As always, none of this would exist without Christopher Baldock’s unwavering guidance, production wizardry, and seemingly supernatural ability to solve every impossible problem. Nor without Anna Hemmings, whose thoughtful eye, calm wisdom, and remarkable work as Assistant Director have been invaluable throughout the process.

Above all, we hope COCK leaves you entertained, challenged, and still arguing about it on the drive home.

As Mike Bartlett himself has observed, “The interesting thing isn’t having the answers. It’s asking the questions.”

— Zachery Bridgman, Director

CAST:

M – Eli Narev

John – James Phillips

W – Adelaide Hayes

F – Paul Hutchison

PRODUCTION TEAM:

Director – Zachary Bridgman with Chris Baldock

Assistant Director – Anna Hemming

Producer – Chris Baldock

Lighting Design – Rhiley Winnett and Anna Hemming

Set Concept, Design & Realisation – Chris Baldock

Stage Manager and Lighting & Sound Operation – Anna Hemming

Costumes – Cast

Props – Chris Baldock and cast

Intimacy Coordination – Steph Evans

Publicity & Photography – Chris Baldock with Zac Bridgman

FOR MOCKINGBIRD THEATRICS:

Artistic Director & Head Tutor – Chris Baldock

Technical Manager – Rhiley Winnett

Publicity, Graphics and Photography – Chris Baldock

Associate Directors – Zac Bridgman, Steph Evans, Céline Oudin

THANKS TO:

Paul Portelli & the Belconnen Arts Centre staff, Nick Fuller & Canberra Daily,

Helen Musa & CityNews, Goodwin Village Dickson, Claire White

MOCKINGBIRD SUPPORTERS:

Special Friend of the Theatre: Jane Ahlquist, Tracey Pulli

Season Supporter: Sarah Byrne & Peter McDonald, Anonymous, Paul Sweeney

Season Patron: Liz St Clair Long

M – Eli Narev

Eli is an emerging writer, actor and director here in Canberra. He is a proud member of the gay and bald communities and is dedicated to telling stories that would make any accredited psychologist raise an eyebrow.

Acting credits include Justin in Così (Burgmann), Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Burgmann), Jim in Away (N.U.T.S), Reverend Parris in The Crucible (N.U.T.S) and Garcin in No Exit (Mockingbird). Offstage, Eli’s production credits include set design for Romeo and Juliet (ANU ShakeSoc), Marketing for The Squirrels (N.U.T.S) and Assistant Director for GOD (Mill Theatre).

Eli co-wrote and directed the National University Theatre Society’s first ever full-length, student written production alongside Adam Gottschalk in 2023. His new play, Schrader on the Fold-Out Bed (a freudian thriller-comedy about an aged care nurse and her apathetic gay son who agree to euthanise a conservative ex-politician in their spare bedroom) is currently in production through Canberra Youth Theatre’s ‘Open Studio’ and set to premier early 2027.

John – James Phillips

This is James’s second show with Mockingbird Theatre, previously playing Kit Marlowe in Shakespeare in Love. He has further been found guilty of participating in the ANU theatre scene, playing The Duchess in Alice by Heart, Richard III in Richard III, Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing and Ensemble in As You Like It and Lysistrata. He is incredibly excited to be taking on the complex and challenging role of John, a man who never can make up his mind.

W – Adelaide Hayes

Adelaide is a Leo. That’s all you really need to know. Oh, and her acting credits include Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible (N.U.T.S), Lucy in Cosi (Burgmann), and Jax in Third Storey (N.U.T.S) – the latter was co-wrote and directed by her dear friend, Eli Narev!

F – Paul Hutchison

Paul is a local writer, actor, artist, and filmmaker. As the father of adult children, he is a natural fit playing Dad in Mike Bartlett’s riveting examination of romantic and family tensions and strained relationships, in Cock. He will also appear as Carter the boss, in Bartlett’s play Bull, also to be staged by Mockingbird Theatre.

His stage and film acting credits include Parker the butler in Lady Windermere’s Fan (Canberra Rep); three roles (McGirr/ Goldstein/ Hawke) in The Chalk Pit (Courtyard Theatre); Murph in The Weed and the Gold (film); The Stranger in Blasted Apart (UC film); Doctor in Burdens (AIE film); Pops in Forgotten Fortunes (AIE film); Vice Chancellor Will Tallen in Aliens of UC (Lights Canberra Action film); a cafe extra in Austin: Season 2.