<ter Comps performances are always something special--a culmination of a theater major’s time at Carleton and a celebration of the work they have put into their art form. This term, three theater majors: Erik Sorensen, Mairead Koehler, and Nathan Bern, brought together their collective experience to craft their own production of Cock, a 2009 play by British playwright Mike Bartlett.
Directed by the actors and Alexandra Pozniak ’18, the show incorporated elements of Droznin movement and elements of devised theatre to create a masterful interpretation of Bartlett’s difficult text. Now, this reviewer is the first to admit skepticism, having seen three of Bartlett’s plays previously, including the companion play to Cock, Bull. I wasn’t a big fan of his less traditional plays, but I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this production.
The audience sits atop a white open box, looking down into the performers’ space as they navigate their relationships with each other and themselves. The premise of the show is that the only named character, John (Bern) is deciding whether or not to leave his boyfriend of seven years (Sorensen) for a woman he met on the train (Koehler). After seeing John interact with both options and while the circumstances escalate, the characters decide to have dinner together to discuss their options.
Yet, this production of Cock is so much more than its plot. With zero props, scenes, or objects of any form onstage, the actors brought a physicality to the roles that permeated up through the audience. Sometimes the performers would run into the walls, other times they would do acrobatic stunts with the floor, walls, or other actors as support.
Although none of the actions mentioned in the script are physically presented, every single one was made clear through movement. The performances were incredible, with each actor completely embodying their character. The characters in Cock are unlikeable and nasty–they argue, they manipulate, and they lie, yet I couldn’t look away.
For the majority of the show, the scenes are between two actors at a time, and the actors so fully inhabit their scenes that it is easy to forget the events that had happened before the present one. The tension in the space builds the entire show, never faltering and relentlessly asking John to just choose, choose, choose one. The competing narratives are equally assertive, just as Koehler and Sorensen’s characters are, as they control and push John to choose them and decide who he is, what he is.
Ultimately, this production is a triumph of collaboration and creativity from three incredibly talented majors. The language is vicious, the plot is gripping, and some moments in the script veer toward over-the-top, but the performances, intuitive blocking, and transcendental physicality enliven Cock and make it one of the most memorable and immersive theatre experiences I’ve had at Carleton.