Cock

13 14 Season

Cock Poster

By Mike Bartlett
Directed by Joel Greenberg

April 4–27, 2014

The Theatre Centre
1115 Queen Street West, Toronto

John is confused.
John has broken up with his boyfriend.
John has fallen in love again… with a woman.

Mike Bartlett’s punchy comedic drama puts you ringside as John wages war with his lovers, himself and a society that demands an answer to the question, “Who am I?”

In 2009, Cock premiered at the Royal Court, winning a 2010 Olivier Award. In 2012, it received its acclaimed North American premiere at the Duke in New York. Studio 180 was proud to present the Canadian premiere of Cock, introducing Toronto audiences to acclaimed playwright Mike Bartlett (a highly prolific and successful playwright in the UK, Cock was the first of his works to be produced in Canada) and the new home of The Theatre Centre in West Queen West.

Toronto Theatre Critics’ Award – Ian D. Clark, Best Supporting Actor in a Play

Listed as a top 10 production of 2014 by the Globe and Mail

Written by Mike Bartlett
Directed by Joel Greenberg
Featuring Ian D. Clark, Jessica Greenberg, Andrew Kushnir, and Jeff Miller
Stage Managed by Marcie Januska
Lighting Designed by Kimberly Purtell
Set and Costume Designed by John Thompson
Production Managed by Adrien Whan

Beyond the Stage events
Anything That Loves

April 4–27, 2014

COCKtales: Stories, Perspectives and Conversations Beyond Sexual Binaries

April 13, 2014

Company

Mike Bartlett

Mike Bartlett

Playwright

For Studio 180: debut. Mike Bartlett is currently Associate Playwright at Paines Plough. In 2011 he was writer-in-residence at The National Theatre, and in 2007 he was Pearson Playwright in Residence at the Royal Court Theatre. His play Love, Love, Love won Best New Play in the 2011 Theatre Awards UK, and his play Cock won an Olivier Award in 2010 for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre; he won the Writer’s Guild Tinniswood and Imison prizes for Not Talking and the Old Vic New Voices Awards for Artefacts. Theatre credits include: Love, Love, Love13 (National Theatre), Decade (co-writer), Earthquakes in LondonCockContractionsArtefacts, and My Child. Radio credits include: “The Core,” “Heart,” “Liam,” “The Steps,” “Love Contract,” “Not Talking,” and “The Family Man,” all on BBC. Screen credits include “Earthquakes in London” and “Hometown.” Directing credits include Honest by DC Moore. He is currently under commission from Headlong Theatre, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, Hampstead Theatre, and The Royal Court Theatre.


Joel Greenberg

Joel Greenberg

Director

For Studio 180: God of CarnageClybourne ParkThe Normal HeartOur ClassParade, The  OverwhelmingStuff Happens, BlackbirdThe Arab-Israeli Cookbook, The Passion of the Chris & The Laramie Project. A co-founder of Studio 180, Joel is a Chalmers and Dora award–winning playwright and director who has directed productions across Canada. Elsewhere: Ain’t Misbevain‘, What the Butler Saw, Taking Sides, Vanities, Bells Are Ringing, Second City (Toronto and Chicago), Dames at Sea (too many times), Tonight at 8:00…8:30 in Newfoundland (all three editions), The Foreigner, Alice, Drink the Mercury and The Nuclear Power Play. Joel taught at Humber College Theatre School from 1984 to 1989 and the Drama Department at the University of Waterloo from 1991 to 2014, also serving as the Chair of each department.


Ian D Clark

Ian D. Clark

F

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens. Selected theatre includes CymbelineMatchmakerGrapes of Wrath (Stratford Festival); The Foreigner (Royal Alex – title role); An Ideal Husband at Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, where he is privileged to have been invited eight times; and, most recently, The Importance of Being Earnest (Thousand Islands Playhouse). Ian’s US appearances include productions at both the Annenberg and Arden Theatres (Philadelphia); The Constant Wife (Coconut Grove, Miami – Best Actor Award); and his own A Collection of British Rubbish comedy (Bradford Centre, Boston – Broadway-optioned). Ian is a Shaw Festival veteran and has also appeared at Canadian Stage, Tarragon Theatre and all major theatres in the country. Film and TV: 14 features, including EquusLilies32 Short Films about Glenn Gould and The Arrow; five major series, including Road to Avonlea and The Associates; starring role in the pilot for SOLD; and most recently FlashpointRookie BlueMurdoch MysteriesSaving Hope and Reign. Ian holds an MA from McGill and has served as a jury member for the Canadian Academy during the awards season. Ian was proud to receive a Toronto Theatre Critics Award in 2013.


Jessica Greenberg

Jessica Greenberg

W

For Studio 180: Our Class, Parade, Blackbird, Offensive Shadows & The Passion of the Chris. Jessica (she/her) is Studio 180’s Director of Youth and Community Engagement, a co-creator of the IN CLASS program, and a core member of the company since 2004. She is a Dora-nominated actor and a leader in drama education with a passion for promoting youth empowerment and building community through theatre. As an actor she has performed on stages across Canada and the US, including Studio 180, Canadian Stage, Crow’s Theatre, Mirvish Productions, Project: Humanity, Magnus Theatre, YPT, The Citadel, MTYP, Passe Muraille, Thousand Islands Playhouse, Theatre New Brunswick, Willow Cabin Theatre and Theatreworks/USA. She has appeared on The Handmaid’s Tale, Murdoch Mysteries and Being Erica as well as the animated series Fish ‘n Chips. At Studio 180 Jessica oversees all education and Beyond the Stage programming including the creation of study guide resources and the curation of lobby exhibits, chats, panels, talkbacks and other special events. She worked as Education Coordinator for ARCfest: Toronto’s Human Rights Arts Festival, and is the Director of Child Engagement for the Child-ish Collective. She holds an Honours BA in political science and women’s studies from McGill University and completed her classical acting training at Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York and as an apprentice at the Actors Theatre of Louisville in Kentucky.


Andrew Kushnir

Andrew Kushnir

John

For Studio 180: Offensive Shadows. Andrew is an actor, playwright and creative director of Project: Humanity (projecthumanity.ca). As a performer, he has worked with companies that include Canadian Stage (The Middle PlaceSweeney ToddHairA Midsummer Night’s Dream), Catalyst Theatre (Frankenstein), Theatre Calgary (Beyond Eden) and Outside The March/Convergence/Sheep No Wool (Passion Play). He is a co-creator of The Gay Heritage Project, which premiered at Buddies in Bad Times in November 2013. Andrew is playwright-in-residence at Tarragon Theatre and in residency at The Theatre Centre, developing a new verbatim piece called Small Axe. His award-winning play about youth homelessness, The Middle Place, premiered in 2011 and was then toured nationally by Project: Humanity. He is a graduate of the University of Alberta’s BFA Acting program and a 2013 recipient of their Alumni Horizon Award.


Jeff Miller

Jeff Miller

M

For Studio 180: The Normal Heart, The Arab-Israeli Cookbook & The Laramie Project (2004). For Studio 180: Cock, The Normal HeartThe Arab-Israeli CookbookThe Laramie Project . Other theatre includes Hana’s SuitcaseTo Kill a Mockingbird, Reading the Signs, Liars (Young People’s Theatre); Same Time Next Year, Half-LifeRabbit HoleLeading Ladies (Sudbury Theatre Centre); Steven Gallagherʼs Craplicker (Toronto Fringe 2010); Mike McPhadenʼs Poochwater, Sean Reycraftʼs One Good Marriage (Theatre Passe Muraille); King Lear (Walking Shadow Theatre); Stones in His PocketsPicasso at the Lapin AgileRumors, The Petrified ForestMoon Over Buffalo (Nipissing Stage); Communicating Doors (Magnus Theatre); The Othello Project (Florida Shakespeare Theater); Love! Valour! Compassion!Twilight of the Golds (Boston Speakeasy Theater); and The Lisbon Traviata (Boston Triangle Theater). TV credits include roles on Good WitchThe StrainMan Seeking Woman and Queer as Folk.


Marcie Januska

Marcie Januska

Stage Manager

For Studio 180: debut. Previous credits include Cake and Dirt (Tarragon Theatre); Who Killed Spalding Gray? (reWork Productions); Forgiveness (Modern Times Stage); Yukonstyle (Canadian Stage); CivilityThis Is What Happens Next (Necessary Angel); NohkomValley of Coal (Signal Theatre); Who Killed Snow White (Nightwood Theatre); Antigone: Dead People (Small Wooden Shoe); The ClockmakerThe Gift of the CoatCommunionThe Last Dog of WarPeter PanAsh Rizin’ (a hip-hop musical)HeartbreakerRabbit HoleAbraham Lincoln Goes to the Theatre (Alberta Theatre Projects); Blood RelationsDial M For MurderWait Until DarkRope (Vertigo Theatre); Arigato, Tokyo (The Banff Centre); Vigil (Theatre Calgary); and over 20 shows at Lunchbox Theatre. Marcie is also an independent producer and administrator, and worked at The Banff Centre for seven seasons with the Opera as Theatre training program. She is a co-founder of reWork Productions.


Kimberly Purtell

Kimberly Purtell

Lighting Designer

For Studio 180: God of CarnageClybourne Park, The Normal Heart, Our ClassParadeThe OverwhelmingStuff HappensBlackbird. Kimberly is a Toronto based lighting designer for theatre, opera and dance and is thrilled to be working with Studio 180 once again. Her designs have been critically acclaimed across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Prague, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Moscow and Mongolia. She has designed for the Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Canadian Stage Company, Soulpepper Theatre, Mirvish Productions, National Arts Centre and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Pacific Opera Victoria, Opera Philadelphia, Arena Stage in Washington DC, Tapestry Opera, Hamilton Opera, Edmonton Opera, Theatre Calgary, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Citadel Theatre, Place des Arts, among many others. She has also designed productions for the Pan Am Games and the Vancouver and Beijing Cultural Olympiads. Kimberly has received three Dora Mavor Moore Awards, the Pauline McGibbon Award, a Sterling Award, and a Montreal English Theatre Award. She is the Vice President of the Associated Designers of Canada and IATSE ADC659.


John Thompson

Set and Costume Designer

For Studio 180: God of CarnageThe Normal HeartOur Class. Other theatre credits: Speaking in Tongues, The Test, Through the Leaves (Dora Award), Festen, A Whistle in the Dark, Marion Bridge (Company Theatre); Divisadero (Necessary Angel); The Retreat from Moscow, The Tempest, The Clean House, A Christmas Carol, Humble Boy, The Shape of Things (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Waiting for Godot, No Man’s Land, The Mill on the Floss, Betrayal, Twelfth Night, Don Carlos, The Misanthrope (Soulpepper); The Trials of Ezra Pound (Stratford Festival); The Pessimist, Care, Alice’s Affair, Helen’s Necklace, Russell Hill, Little Mercy’s First Murder, The Good Life, Skylight, Girl in the Goldfish Bowl, Earshot, The Road to Hell (Tarragon Theatre); Eternal Hydra (Crow’s Theatre – Dora Award); Caught, Unity (1918), Blood (Theatre Passe Muraille). John teaches design at the University of Toronto Drama Centre.


Adrien Whan

Adrien Whan

Production Manager

For Studio 180: The Normal Heart (2012); As Technical Director – Clybourne Park (2013) & The Normal Heart (2011). Adrien has been working professionally as a technical artist for the past 20 years. He is currently the Technical Director for Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Other selected credits include Site Production Manager for Ontario Place Corporation; Assistant Technical Director for YPT; Sound and Video Operator for touring productions of Our Brief Eternity and Circa (The Holy Body Tattoo); Lighting Designer for Under the Mink and Who’s Your Dada (The Scandelles), Real Live Girl and The Beauty Salon (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre), and The First LP and Shifting Edges (Alias Dance); Stage Manager for Fluency by Peter Chin (Tribal Crackling Wind); and Production Manager for Once on this Island (Acting Up Stage Company).


Gallery

Andrew Kushnir and Jeff Miller in Cock. Photo by Karri North.
Jeff Miller and Andrew Kushnir in Cock. Photo by Karri North.
Andrew Kushnir and Jeff Miller in Cock. Photo by Karri North.
Jeff Miller and Andrew Kushnir in Cock. Photo by Karri North.
Andrew Kushnir and Jessica Greenberg in Cock. Photo by Karri North.
Andrew Kushnir and Jessica Greenberg in Cock. Photo by Karri North.
Jessica Greenberg and Andrew Kushnir in Cock. Photo by Karri North.
Andrew Kushnir and Jeff Miller in Cock. Photo by Karri North.
Jeff Miller, Andrew Kushnir and Jessica Greenberg in Cock. Photo by Karri North.
Andrew Kushnir and Jessica Greenberg in Cock. Photo by Karri North.
Andrew Kushnir and Jessica Greenberg in Cock. Photo by Karri North.
Jeff Miller, Andrew Kushnir and Jessica Greenberg in Cock. Photo by Karri North.
Ian D Clark and Jeff Miller in Cock. Photo by Karri North.
The ensemble of Cock. Photo by Karri North.
Andrew Kushnir in Cock. Photo by Karri North.
The ensemble of Cock. Photo by Karri North.
The ensemble of Cock. Photo by Karri North.
Jessica Greenberg and Andrew Kushnir in Cock. Photo by Karri North.

A no-holds-barred emotional brawl… Studio 180 gives the play a thrillingly intense treatment… A smashing Canadian debut!

Globe and Mail ★★★½ (out of 4)

A terrific production by the spunky [Studio 180]… Created with economy, spareness and tremendous invention… this company is on its toes.

CIUT 89.5 FM

Exciting! Touching and hilarious! A territorial struggle in the best Harold Pinter tradition… It’s cocksure.

National Post

A magnificent play… You’ll want ringside seats to every bout.

Charlebois Post

Joel Greenberg’s tight direction combines with the ensemble’s gutsy, committed and consistently strong performances to elevate Bartlett’s script… A masterful staging of a compelling new script.

Mooney on Theatre

The actors are excellent… Joel Greenberg’s direction is sharp and vivid.

NOW Magazine

Cock has a lot of important things to say about the ways we confuse sexuality with identity, or passion with love… Turns a sexual-identity crisis into a blood sport. Definitely worthy of your time.

Toronto Star

The laughs are relentless… Uniformly stunning performances.

Drew Rowsome – My Gay Toronto