Provocatively titled, Cock was Mike Bartlett’s punchy new Olivier award winning play, which premiered at The Royal Court in 2009, directed by James Macdonald.
When John takes a break from his girlfriend, he accidentally meets the girl of his dreams. But difficulties arise when you realise you have a choice. It’s a piece full of the male member slang connotations, including the traditional British ‘cock and bull’ story and staged in a circular bullring, or more aptly, a ‘cockpit’.
The brilliant BAFTA award winning Ben Whishaw played ‘John’ – the only properly named character in the play, with the rest of the quartet labelled ‘M’ ‘W’ and ‘F’ – man , woman, father. The equally talented Katherine Parkinson was the only female cast member, playing ‘W’, a tender divorcee.
Shy, but always friendly, Ben, who is currently mesmerising audiences and critics in Mojo, signed at the Noel Coward stage door after a performance of Peter and Alice in April 2013. I then sent the sketch to Katherine who was the lead in Before the Party at the Almeida.