The Australian premiere of Cock, a Melbourne Theatre Company production, features local actor Tom Conroy playing John, the ‘lucky man’ torn between two lovers. What does Conroy like about the character of John? “He’s incredibly complex,” answers the actor. “He doesn’t feel like he knows who he is. There is an epic nature to the search he goes on. These are fun things for an actor. And there’s a lot of collateral damage, especially for the long term boyfriend and the woman. John goes through a crisis.” Well, you would.
Conroy likes the way the play wrestles with a greater story of a man trying to discover what he values, what he wants, how to go ahead into the future, as well with the question of who he wants to be with. The play raises the question of who John is, as opposed to what he is – a gay man. Or not. M, John’s older boyfriend, is played by Angus Grant; W, the woman, by Sophie Ross. (John is the only character with a name, the other three have letters.)
Is Cock a rallying cry for bi-sexuality? “Interestingly, it’s not, although that’s a radical idea in some ways,” Conroy answers. “The play’s saying, at least for John in terms of moving forwards, that it doesn’t matter if it’s a man or a woman you love, it’s about how they treat you, how you exist together. Anyone can relate to that in the long term. There’s so much that’s universal.” Is polyamory ever considered as a possibility for the three of them? “It’s not even an option,” answers Conroy. “Bartlett decided there was enough going on in the story without adding that. He’s really looking at the question of the labels we give ourselves. The play is about how my character feels restrained; how we are held back by people’s perceptions of who we are. For a lot of gay men who have come out of repression and struggle, they find people don’t understand their history.”
As an actor, Conroy’s big challenge is to inhabit a place of uncertainty’, ‘to think with John’s indecision’, as he puts it. “It’s incredibly frustrating to watch someone go from one person to another, not making up his mind. I’m still trying to discover the best way to negotiate that. It’s interesting being not too polite, I’m not making John too nice; that’s an interesting sort of journey. The arc of the play requires me to dig my heels in at the beginning; I’m getting ready for the ride.”
What makes Conroy right for the role? “There are two things, almost like two different roles, where, when I auditioned, when I connected with John. Early on when he breaks up with M, he articulates for himself why he’s got to the point of not deciding. And at the end of the play, at the climax, he’s realised how much built-up resentment there is between him and the other person. He’s feeling limited and angry; I really connected with that part of him. Letty (director Leticia Cáceres) really saw that in me. It was important that she found someone who was able to be very vulnerable yet also have access to the character’s sexy side as well.”
Conroy says the cast is in wonderful hands with Cáceres, who’s an Associate Director with the MTC. “It’s a love-fest in rehearsal,” says Conroy. “We’re all in love with Letty. She’s so incredible to work with. She’s so compassionate and inquisitive, so curious about the issues of sexuality and gender.”
The play is interestingly tricky in terms of tone, Conroy notes, something that presents a challenge for them all. Despite the oppressive quality of the language, the drama becomes almost mannered by the end. At the climax there’s a dinner party and John’s boyfriend’s father (Tony Rickards), is invited by M to hear John’s verdict on their future. A matter of going out rather than coming out, then.
“By the third act it’s become almost farcical,” says Conroy. “But we have to honour what’s in the text, highlight its inner frequencies, match where the text wants to go. Everyone is torn, deep down, with what they fell for and who they fell for. The production really succeeds in showing this.”
BY LIZA DEZFOULI
