Review: Cock, Colab Theatre *****

Frenetic Timing and PAINFUL Truths: Cock at COLAB Theatre, LONDON (TOUR BY Talk Is FrEE THEATRE, CANADA)

Mike Bartlett’s Olivier Award winning play Cock, first performed at the Royal Court in 2009, arrived as a bold exploration of identity that famously stripped away the traditional trappings of theatre. In this latest production by Canada’s Talk Is Free Theatre, currently on an ambitious multi-national tour, the play finds a perfect home in the industrial, basement depths of the COLAB Theatre near London Bridge.

The journey to the performance space was an immersive experience in itself, particularly on a tube strike day; those of us who made it felt like truly intrepid souls before it even began. The venue is so tucked away that more than one audience member found themselves wandering into broom cupboards while trying to find the exit. Before reaching our seats, we passed through a labyrinth of gold bars, safety deposit boxes, box cameras and old fashioned phones, creating a sense of being deep within a hidden vault.

However, once we reached the performance area, the atmosphere shifted to something far more sparse. We were seated in an intimate, basement room that felt raw and exposed, perfectly mirroring the vulnerability of the characters we were about to meet. The production is performed in the round, creating a “neutral” arena where the action happens around us, between us, and beside us. It feels almost like being guests at an invisible dinner table, unable to look away from the unfolding drama. This staging choice heightened the impact of the shadow puppetry style scene that happened off-stage.

True to the play’s original intentions, there is a total absence of traditional stage artifice; there are no walls, no doors, and no props. When characters eat, drink, or dress, they do not attempt to imitate the action with their hands or pretend to hold invisible objects. If a character is meant to be putting on a jacket, they simply speak the lines as if they were doing so, without any physical pretence. By removing these distractions, the production forces the audience to focus entirely on the language and the shifting power dynamics. It creates a high-pressure environment where transitions are handled through sharp physical shifts and lighting changes, ensuring the only thing that matters is the raw emotional conflict.

Aidan Desalaiz (back centre), Michael Torontow (front centre) and audience members

The story centres on John, played with a compelling, nervous energy by Aidan Desalaiz. John is the only character in the play who is given a name, yet in many ways, he remains the person we know the least. He is less a fully realised man and more the object of desire, a prize to be won in a fierce, verbal sparring match between his long term boyfriend, M, and W, a woman he has recently met and thinks he has fallen for.

Michael Torontow brings a sharp, measured intensity to M, while Tess Benger provides a grounding, empathetic presence as W. The quartet is completed by Kevin Bundy as F, M’s father, who enters the fray later to defend his son’s territory. Directed by Dylan Trowbridge, the production leans into the play’s inherent combativeness with phenomenal energy. The acting is visceral, with the cast delivering the sharply paced dialogue with a timing that is both frenetic and immaculate. This level of craft has already been recognised across the Atlantic; Trowbridge was awarded Best Director at the Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards for his work on this production and The Globe and Mail named this one of the Top 10 Best Theatre productions of 2025.

Aidan de Salaiz and Tess Bender in Cock — Aidan Desalaiz and Tess Benger

This production stands in interesting contrast to the 2022 West End revival directed by Marianne Elliott. While that production gained significant attention for its star casting, with Jonathan Bailey as John and Taron Egerton as M, it also moved away from the play’s original minimalism by introducing more elaborate movement and staging. In contrast, this production at the COLAB Theatre feels like it is returning to the play’s roots, focusing on the raw power of the performances and the intensity of the human connections.

It is a treat for London to see such a high calibre production from Talk Is Free Theatre, a company with over twenty years of experience developing theatre across Canada and abroad. Their mission is to connect cutting edge works with a wide array of people, often in unique settings. This production of Cock is part of a global tour, travelling from Cape Town to São Paulo, and onto Helsinki and Püssi following its London run.

Ultimately, the play asks a difficult question about the nature of love and the power of theatre to reflect the complexities of our voices. If a relationship is something you have to fight for with such brutality, is it already doomed? As John stands between his two options, the victory for whoever wins him feels increasingly hollow. It is a thought provoking piece of theatre that reminds us how easily we can lose ourselves when we become nothing more than the reflection of what others want us to be.

The production continues in London at the COLAB Theatre until May 2.