Cock
★★★★☆ Potent
Augustine United Church: Sat 4 – Tues 7 Apr 2026
Review by Ruth Bennett
Kitty Milk Theatre’s debut, Cock, at the Studio of Augustine United Church for four performances only, is an auspicious start which only narrowly misses perfection.
There is deft artistic sensitivity to this production, directed by Elle Catherine Willcocks, of Mike Bartlett’s pugnacious script – the name refers primarily to a cockfight, and only secondarily to the male organ.
Andrew More (John) and Jude Ellis Rogers (M). Pic: Emily Sharp.
First staged at London’s Royal Court in 2009, Cock is an intense exploration of the choices faced by John, the only named character in the piece. Although he’s lived with and loved a man, identified only as M, for seven years, his heart has now been captured by a woman, who is likewise simply labeled as W.
Ultimately, this is a play about the cruelly limiting confines of essentialist and reductionist views on sex and gender. It has lost little relevance in 2026 and is a fitting first selection for a company that bills itself as “freak theatre for the queer and the curious.”
Bartlett’s slippery script is entirely wonderful and not staged often enough. The first act, especially, is crammed with elliptical phrases and is built up in impressionistic layers. His dialogue doesn’t reflect the way people speak, but rather the way you might wish they would. It’s an expertly-crafted nonlinear narrative that both demands and rewards rapt attention.
complexity
The company respect the complexity of the playwright’s aims and engage with the difficult material in a manner that preserves its biting non-natural tone and burnishes its nuance.
Staged somewhat awkwardly in the semi-round in the challenging Studio space of Augustine, the set by Ava Tumblety is stripped to bare minimum. The ambivalent commitment to “in the round” results in the occasional inaudible line and odd blocking. Only blips of sound and changes in lighting signal alterations in time and place among cascading, overlapping scenes, and more of a compass would be helpful here. The spare presentation does keep the focus on the superb cast, however.
Eve Nugent (W), Andrew More (John) and Jude Ellis Rogers (M). Pic: Emily Sharp.
M, played by Jude Ellis Rogers, is kinetic, labile, and hyperbolic. Rogers gives an absolutely top-notch portrayal of a man both proud and deeply insecure. He veers credibly between icy languor and explosive rage, with sneering disdain in between. Across it all, he is mesmerisingly hypnotic.
As the female interloper W, Eve Nugent is a perfectly balanced counterweight. She’s a confident but vulnerable guide to the female anatomy for John, full of coltish energy and refreshing self-possession. Her fierceness in the climactic dinner party feels grounded in her multifaceted personality, even if she embraced it to an apparently accidental pinnacle of fury in this particular performance (first few rows, consider yourself warned about cheesecake spatter).
Max Middleton doesn’t have a large role as M’s father, and comes across as a little tentative before becoming absorbed in roaring ripostes to W’s needling. He’s the least fleshed-out character, but competently fulfils his function in the narrative.
curiously meek
The position of John, the trophy in the lovers’ tug-of-war, is tricky. His character is diffident, hesitant, and trapped, and Andrew More captures those emotions brilliantly. He’s also curiously meek to be the fixation of two boldly-drawn strutting peacocks, and the reasons for their obsession aren’t particularly clear.
It’s such an anomaly that it’s actually noted in the script. Still, we need to witness a greater charismatic sparkle alongside the inhibition. John insists to his feuding paramours that he’s a different person with each of them, but we don’t actually see much evidence of that.
Max Middleton (Father) with Andrew More (John) and Eve Nugent (W). Pic: Emily Sharp.
More’s task in the long and twisty final sequence in which he’s forced to make some decisions is a delicate one that rests on the emotional texture he’s established up to that point. It does work, but only tenuously.
The production’s pacing can be slightly patchy. There’s so little upswing in tension at the end of the first act that the interval arrives as an abrupt surprise. Another stall occurs after the pyrotechnics of the dinner scene.
But the production is more notable for how much it gets right, such as the palpable chemistry among the three main protagonists. Clever storytelling through small movements and gestures magnifies the intimacy to powerful, almost painful, proportions. It’s forceful and potent drama.
an astonishing success
Kitty Milk Theatre have accomplished an astonishing success on what’s clearly a barebones budget, and it’s exciting to think what they might achieve with more resources and further development. It’s an exceptionally impressive debut for the emergent company, and firmly establishes them as a substantive and dynamic new presence in Edinburgh theatre.
Running time: One hour and 50 minutes (including one interval)
Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, EH1 1EL.
Sat 4/Sun 5, Tue 7 April 2026
Sat/Sat, Tue: 7.30pm. Mat Tue: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
Kitty Milk Theatre Instagram: @kittymilktheatre
Linktree: @kittymilktheatre
Jude Ellis Rogers (M). Pic: Emily Sharp.
ENDS
