Theater Review: 'The Cockfight Play'

A Fight to the Death -- Perhaps of the Soul
By Lauren Yarger
Two hens go beak-to-beak to determine the pecking order when it comes to mating with the rooster they both desire while spectators watch from arena seats, but this is no ordinary cockfight.

Here the two hens are an unnamed man and woman (Jason Butler Harner and Amanda Quaid) identified only as M and W and the rooster who can't make up his mind whom he likes better is John (Cory Michael Smith) in Mike Bartlett's clever hot-ticket play Cock running Off-Broadway.

The trouble starts when John, recently broken up with M, suddenly finds himself attracted to W despite the fact that he and M had been in a long-term relationship with M and John has always thought he was gay. Society told him he was, so he never really questioned it before. Could it be that he's not? Or maybe he's bisexual?

W has had some disappointments of her own in the love department, so she is reluctant to begin again with John -- especially since he says he is gay. She sees potential in him, however.

"You're like a picture drawn with a pencil, not yet colored in," she tells him.

What starts as a sort of sexual experiment develops into real affection and John is torn. The sex scene, directed by James Macdonald, is brilliant, with the couple circling around each other and all of the physical action taking place in bird-like fashion while the couple remains fully clothed.

The new development doesn't go over with M whose feathers are ruffled in rejection. He insists on meeting the woman whom John has described as "manly." He invites her over for dinner and asks his father, F (Cotter Smith), to join them for added moral support. It had taken some adjustment for M's parents to accept his relationship with John, but now F considers him part of the family and he strongly urges John not to give up everything he has built with his son.

The dinner party gets off to a shaky start -- W hardly is the Yehti-like, manly creature John has described. Instead she's feminine and pretty, making it even more difficult for M to understand John's attraction for her. John isn't excited by the added pressure of having F join the party or by the fact that W represents everything he's ever wanted: a family, kids and normalcy.

In a piece of inspired direction by James Macdonald, the contestants go to their corners and the dirt starts to fly as scratching and pecking ensues. The audience can't help but feel they are in a barn watching a cockfight thanks to the hard plywood arena benches encircling the action (Miriam Buether designs the set and costumes. Those seats have a small cushion, but feel pretty hard even after a quick 90-minute run). Bells signaling the end of scenes evoke thoughts of a boxing match (Darron L. West, sound design). It's an-edge-of-your-seat battle as John changes his mind more than once and M, F and W all try to make the decision for him.

In the end, John is mortally wounded, not only because he can't make the right decision, but because he is so confused, he can't even figure out what the right decision is. Don't be put off by the title and subject matter. It's an engaging play, skillfully written and executed and is thought-provoking enough to trigger conversation on the way out of the theater and later.

Cock (more gently referred to as The Cockfight Play), the 2010 winner of the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in An Affiliate Theatre, runs through Oct. 6 at the Duke Theater, 229 West 42nd St. Tickets: 646-223-3010; http://www.cockfightplay.com/.

Christians might also like to know:
-- This doesn't have an official MATURE rating, but should...
-- Sexual dialogue
-- Strong sexual dialogue and motion
-- Strong language
-- God's name taken in vain
-- Homosexuality
-- Homosexual activity