John breaks up with his long-term boyfriend. Two weeks later, he’s grateful to be accepted back—and haunted by a passionate and unshakable encounter with a woman. In a world with so many ways to be happy, how do you know the right thing when you have it? Cock detonates the love triangle in this investigation of attraction, ambivalence, and commitment from Britain’s most provocative young playwright.
Studio’s Subscription Series is the core of our programming, offering an uncommonly rich repertoire of provocative contemporary writing from around the world and inventive stagings of contemporary classics.
Part of Studio Theatre's New British Invasion festival, showcasing the work of some of the most accomplished and innovative plays by British writers under 40.
Runtime: 90 minutes with no intermission
Environmental Warnings: This production of Cock contains strong language and sexual content.
Cock is underwritten
by Gerald and Laura Rosberg.
Click on artist headshot to see bio
Born and raised in the English village of Abington, Mike Bartlett’s interest in theatre intensified after seeing Mark Ravenhill’s Shopping and Fucking at the age of 16. “That was the first time I’d seen a play by a writer who wasn’t dead or wasn’t much older,” Bartlett reflects. “I remember thinking, ‘I don’t understand why all plays aren’t like this. Why are so many plays set in the past?’”
Bartlett attended the University of Leeds intending to study directing but became frustrated with how disconnected he felt from the plays of the theatrical canon, even the so-called contemporary plays. It was a productive irritation, however, pushing him into playwriting; Bartlett started writing and received his first professional production in 2007 with My Child at the Royal Court Theatre. Following My Child, the Royal Court premiered three more Bartlett plays in five years: the corporate satire Contractions (2008; Studio 2ndStage, 2013), the Olivier Award-winning Cock (2009), and Love, Love, Love (2012), a scathing Baby Boomer comedy.
Bartlett’s more recent plays include experiments in epic form as well. In 2010, The National Theatre produced Earthquakes in London, a sprawling, chaotic play following one family through 500 years and total climate collapse, followed the next year by 13, which he calls a “phantasmagorical fable” about a country poised on the brink of war. King Charles III (2014), a verse drama about the accession and rule of Charles, Prince of Wales, premiered to critical acclaim at London’s Almeida Theatre in April.
Bartlett has branched out into other mediums as well: he adapted the film Chariots of Fire into a stage play that opened at the Hampshire Theatre in 2012 before transferring to the West End; directed his modern adaptation of Medea for Headlong, in which the eponymous heroine was a single mother in a contemporary British housing district; and penned the television thriller The Town, which The Telegraph’s Frances Wilson called “reality TV, as imagined by David Lynch.” Bartlett has also written seven radio plays for BBC and won both the Tinniswood and Imison awards from the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain.
In the seven years since his professional debut, Bartlett has become one of Britain’s most acclaimed writers, crafting plays that explore the contemporary world at a contemporary pace, trying to strip theatre of its preciousness. “Theatre has to appeal to people who do jobs and have lives…the only choice is where your focus is. Do you write your play thinking about other plays? Or do you look out the window and say, my play is about that—whatever the world is, that’s what I’m after.”
(As of May 2014)
David Muse is in his ninth season as Artistic Director of Studio Theatre, where he has directed The Remains, The Effect, The Father, Constellations, Chimerica, Murder Ballad, Belleville, Cock, Tribes, The Real Thing, An Iliad, Dirt, Bachelorette, The Habit of Art, Venus in Fur, Circle Mirror Transformation, reasons to be pretty, Blackbird, Frozen, and The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow. Previously, he was Associate Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, where he has directed nine productions, including Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, Coriolanus, and King Charles III (a co-production of ACT and Seattle Rep). Other directing projects include Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune at Arena Stage, The Bluest Eye at Theater Alliance, and Swansong for New York Summer Play Festival. He has helped to develop new work at numerous theatres, including New York Theatre Workshop, Geva Theatre Center, Arena Stage, Ford’s Theatre, and The Kennedy Center. David has taught acting and directing at Georgetown, Yale, and the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy of Classical Acting. A nine-time Helen Hayes Award nominee for Outstanding Direction, he is a recipient of the DC Mayor’s Arts Award for Outstanding Emerging Artist and the National Theatre Conference Emerging Artist Award. David is a graduate of Yale University and the Yale School of Drama.
(As of April 2019)
Ben Cole makes his Studio Theatre debut. Mr. Cole appeared in the Off Broadway production of Cock at the Duke Theatre. His regional credits include Lewis Black's One Slight Hitch at the Williamstown Theatre Festival (with Justin Long); the world premiere of Steven Belber's The Power of Duff at the Huntington Theatre Company (with Jennifer Westfeldt); The Motherfucker with the Hat at TheatreWorks; Brighton Beach Memoirs, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), and Monster at Stage West; and Fiddler on the Roof at Casa Mañana. His film and television credits include Unforgettable, 30 Rock, One Life to Live, Guiding Light, Sam and Amira, and Winter's Tale. Mr. Cole holds an MFA from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.
(As of May 2014)
Scott Parkinson returns to Studio, where he appeared in An Iliad. Mr. Parkinson has appeared on Broadway in The Coast of Utopia at Lincoln Center Theater and in the national tour of The 39 Steps. His Off Broadway appearances include the Stage Manager in David Cromer’s production of Our Town and Orson’s Shadow at the Barrow Street Theatre; The Third Story at MCC; Rose Rage: Henry VI Parts 1, 2, & 3 at the Duke Theatre (also Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Crime & Punishment at 59E59 (also Writers Theatre in Chicago); and the 2013 Ensemble Studio Theatre One-Act Marathon. In DC, Mr. Parkinson has been seen in Measure for Measure, Julius Caesar/Antony & Cleopatra, and The Persians at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. His regional credits include Hartford Stage, The Old Globe Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, and La Jolla Playhouse. Mr. Parkinson’s Chicago appearances include sixteen productions at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Writers Theatre, the Goodman Theatre, the Court Theatre, and Northlight Theatre. Roles include Hamlet, Richard II, Richard III, Iago, Mercutio, Puck, Treplev, Cassius, Angelo, Judge Brack, Octavius Caesar, Tom Wingfield, Prior Walter, and the Fool in King Lear.
(As of May 2014)
Liesel Allen Yeager is making her Studio Theatre debut. Ms. Allen Yeager was recently seen in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Her New York theatre credits include Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Broadway, Lincoln Center), Too Much Too Soon (Lesser America), and The Sporting Life (Studio 42) as well as various readings at EST, Lincoln Center, Primary Stages, and Playwrights Horizons. Television credits include The Good Wife (CBS) and How to Make It in America (HBO). She is a graduate of The Juilliard School.
(As of May 2014)
Bruce Dow has previously appeared in DC as Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and in his Helen Hayes-nominated performance as Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, both for Shakespeare Theatre Company. His Broadway credits include four featured roles, most recently as King Herod in the Tony-nominated revival of Jesus Christ Superstar. His international work includes Of a Monstrous Child (Toronto Critics Association and a Dora Mavor Moore Awards, Best Actor, Musical) and Tim Luscombe’s PIG, both for Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, and 12 seasons in leading roles as a member of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival Acting Company. Mr. Dow holds both a BFA in acting and an MFA in directing from the University of British Columbia.
(As of May 2014)
Debra Booth has a long history with Studio, where she has designed White Pearl, Translations, The Wolves, The Father, The Hard Problem, Constellations, The Apple Family Cycle, Jumpers for Goalposts, Belleville, Cock, Edgar & Annabel, Bachelorette, Moonlight, Blackbird, My Children! My Africa!, The Pillowman, and many others. Her international work includes premiere opera Marco Polo (Tan Dun/Martha Clarke) in Munich, Hong Kong, and New York. Regionally, her credits include Sooner/Later and Vicuna at Mosaic Theater Company; Small Mouth Sounds at Round House Theatre; Richard III, The Collection, and The Lover at the Shakespeare Theatre Company; Marisol at Hartford Stage and The Public Theater; Trying, The Illusion, and Happy Days at Portland Stage; the New York premiere of Angels in America at The Juilliard School; Broken Glass at Philadelphia Theatre Company (Barrymore Award nomination); and A Moon for the Misbegotten at Yale Rep. Debra is the recipient of a DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Artist Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Arts design grant. She is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
(As of February 2020)
Colin K. Bills has designed the lighting for An Iliad, Lungs, Circle Mirror Transformation, The Year of Magical Thinking, Stoop Stories, and Radio Golf at Studio as well as Moth, Contractions, POP!, That Face, autobahn, The Death of Meyerhold, Tommy, Four, and Bat Boy for Studio 2ndStage. He is a Company Member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, where his dozens of designs have included Stupid Fucking Bird, Clybourne Park, The Clean House, Detroit, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, and Patience. As a Conspirator with the devised theater company dog & pony dc he directed, conceived, and co-wrote A Killing Game; co-wrote and designed Beertown; and designed Courage. His work has also been seen locally at Everyman Theatre, Forum Theatre, Imagination Stage, The Kennedy Center, Metro Stage, Olney Theatre, Round House Theatre, Signature Theatre, Synetic Theatre, Theater J, and The Washington Revels where he is an Artistic Associate. Nationally, his work has been seen at the Berkshire Theatre Festival, Center Stage, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Dallas Theatre Center, Portland Center Stage, Intiman Theatre, and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. He designs regularly with Opera Lafayette, presenting his work at The Kennedy Center, Rose Theater at Lincoln Center, and Opéra Royal Versailles. Mr. Bills is the 2009 recipient of a Princess Grace Award and a three-time Helen Hayes Award winner. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College.
(As of May 2014)
Alex Jaeger has designed costumes for multiple Studio Theatre productions, including Cock; The Habit of Art; Circle Mirror Transformation; The Solid Gold Cadillac; Grey Gardens; The History Boys; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead; Caroline, or Change; The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; Black Milk; The Russian National Postal Service; A Class Act; and The Cripple of Inishmaan. He has also designed A Parallelogram and Other Desert Cities at the Mark Taper Forum; The Nether, Eclipsed, and The Paris Letter at the Kirk Douglas Theatre; and Two Sisters and a Piano for the Public Theater. Other credits include Venus in Fur, Major Barbara, Arcadia, Speed-the-Plow, Maple and Vine, and Rock ‘n’ Roll (also for the Huntington Theatre Company) for the American Conservatory Theater and A Wrinkle in Time, A Streetcar Named Desire, August: Osage County, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Romeo and Juliet, Handler, and Fuddy Meers for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
(As of September 2014)
James Bigbee Garver returns to Studio Theatre after designing Cock, Lungs, Mary Kate Olsen Is In Love, Moth, Contractions, Skin Tight, and 2-2 Tango. In Washington, DC his work has been heard at Signature Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Folger Theatre, Round House Theatre, Theater J, CityDance Ensemble, Word Dance Theatre, and Georgetown University, among others. Some of Mr. Garver’s New York credits include Theatre Row, PS122, 92nd St. Y Harkness Dance, Joyce SoHo, Japan Society, World Financial Center, and Robert Wilson's Watermill Center. His installation and sound art work has been on view at the Smithsonian Institution's Hirshhorn, American, and Natural History Museums, Lincoln Center’s Dance on Camera Festival, and the Megapolis Audio Festival, among others. Mr. Garver is a member of the Theatrical Sound Designers And Composers Association. He received his training at the University of Washington in Seattle.
(As of December 2016)
Adrien-Alice Hansel is the Literary Director at Studio, where she has dramaturged the world premieres of Queen of Basel, The Remains, No Sisters, I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart, Animal, Laugh, Red Speedo, Dirt, Lungs, and The History of Kisses as well as productions of Cry It Out,Translations, Curve of Departure, The Effect, Wig Out!, Straight White Men, Cloud 9, Hedda Gabler, Constellations, Jumpers for Goalposts, Bad Jews (twice), The Apple Family Plays, Invisible Man, Sucker Punch, The Golden Dragon, and The New Electric Ballroom, among others. Prior to joining Studio, she spent eight seasons at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she headed the literary department and coordinated project scouting, selection, and development for the Humana Festival of New American Plays. She also served as production dramaturg on roughly 50 new, contemporary, and classic plays there, including premieres by Naomi Wallace, Gina Gionfriddo, Kirk Lynn and Rude Mechs, Rinne Groff, The Civilians, Anne Bogart and SITI Company, Jordan Harrison, and John Belluso. She is the co-editor of eight anthologies of plays from Actors Theatre and editor of eight editions of plays through Studio. Adrien-Alice holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
(As of April 2019)
Ashley Smith returns to Studio Theatre, having served as Voice and Text Director for Sucker Punch. He recently served as Dialect Coach for Everyman Theatre's production of Crimes of the Heart and Woolly Mammoth Theatre's production of Appropriate. Mr. Smith has directed voice, text, and dialects for Bus Stop and The Rivals at Baltimore Center Stage; Exits and Entrances and The Circle at American Players Theatre; The Good Negro for Dallas Theater Center and The Public Theater; and the Chicago premiere of My Children! My Africa! at Victory Gardens Theatre. As an actor, Mr. Smith recently appeared on AMC's new dramatic series Turn. Other recent television credits include The Art and Life of James McNeill Whistler (PBS). Recent stage credits include All's Well that Ends Well and Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare Theatre Company. He has performed principal roles for Utah Shakespeare Festival (four seasons), Great Lakes Theatre Festival, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Theater Center, and Jean Cocteau Repertory Theatre in New York. Mr. Smith teaches voice and acting in the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of Maryland.
(As of May 2014)
Jack Doulin has been the Casting Director at New York Theatre Workshop since 2000. Productions there include Fetch Clay/Make Man, Peter and the Starcatcher, Tony Kushner’s Homebody /Kabul, Caryl Churchill’s Far Away, A Number (Sam Shepard), and Love and Information. Ivo von Hove’s Hedda Gabler, The Misanthrope, and The Little Foxes. Other New York highlights include Blasted and two notable Uncle Vanyas, (Andre Gregory’s production with Julianne Moore and Wallace Shawn; Annie Baker’s adaptation with Reed Birney, Maria Dizzia, and Michael Shannon directed by Sam Gold). His regional credits include: Long Wharf, Goodman Theatre, Hartford Stage, ART, Seattle Rep, Chautauqua Theater Company, Pig Iron Theatre, The Philadelphia Theatre Company, The Wilma Theater, and Arena Stage. For Studio Theatre he previously cast The Motherfucker with the Hat, Water by the Spoonful, and Cock. Film work includes New Orleans, Mon Amour directed by Michael Almereyda and Jonathan Demme’s film A Master Builder. Mr. Doulin cast the speaking roles in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Le Fille du Regiement. Mr. Doulin teaches at ESPA and in the drama division at Juilliard.
(As of October 2014)
John Keith Hall's DC credits include many productions at Studio Theatre including Bad Jews, Choir Boy, Water by the Spoonful, Tribes, Torch Song Trilogy, 4000 Miles, Sucker Punch, In The Red And Brown Water, The History Boys, Adding Machine: A Musical, and The Road To Mecca; Hir, The Nether, and An Octoroon at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; Soon, SCKBSTD, and West Side Story at Signature Theatre; Sweeney Todd, Mary Poppins, and The Producers at Olney Theatre Center. Regional credits include several seasons as a Resident Stage Manager at The Barter Theatre in Virginia where he supervised over 40 productions, Shadowland Stages in New York, and Virginia Musical Theatre in Virginia Beach. A graduate of Virginia’s Longwood University, Mr. Hall is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association.
(As of September 2017)
Elizabeth Dinkova is the Artistic Apprentice at Studio Theatre, where she has assistant directed Water by the Spoonful, Tribes, The Apple Family Plays, and Torch Song Trilogy. She graduated from Reed College with a BA in theatre and psychology in 2013. While at Reed, she directed many productions, including King Lear, The Suede Jacket, and The Balance. She also directed Female Kingdom at the Bulgarian Theatre in Seattle and the new play Intertwined at Sfumato Theatre’s Small Season Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria. Other assistant directing credits include The Bacchae for Kim Wield and Hamlet for Javor Gardev at the Ivan Vazov Bulgarian National Theatre. Ms. Dinkova will begin pursuing her MFA in directing at the Yale School of Drama this fall.
(As of May 2014)
