When Taron Egerton and Jonathan Bailey recently appeared on The One Show to promote their revival of Mike Bartlett’s play, they had to speak entirely in euphemisms, giggling as they told viewers to “google The Ambassadors Theatre”. First staged in 2009, Cock – the play that cannot be named – has always intended to shock. In 2022, Marianne Elliot’s new production follows the same suit. John (Bailey) is cohabiting with his boyfriend M (Egerton, making his West End debut) until they split up and he falls in love with a woman, known in the script as W (Jade Anouka). Unable to choose, John continues to date them both, promising that, of course, he’s going to leave the other. “You want your boyfriend’s help with the woman you’re sleeping with?” Egerton asks, bewildered.
Our language around LGBTQ+ issues has become infinitely more complex and nuanced over the last decade, yet Bartlett’s script rarely feels dated – especially when discussing sexuality. You feel the 2009 timestamp more in the misogynistic references M makes to W’s body. While M’s clearly hurting and the lines are delivered for laughs, phrases like “rug muncher” feel jarring.
