Bull Goes All In

Bull – The Bull Fight Play, getting its US premier at 59E59 theaters as part of Brits Off Broadway week, is a viscerally scarring play dealing with the fight for life.  In Bull, that “life” is viable employment, but it is truly a fight to the metaphorical death.

Staged in a high-tech boxing ring - even down to the water cooler in the corner, Bull lays out its sensibilities clearly.  Three gladiators enter, but only two will exit.  In this particular scenario, the three are current sales team employees at an unidentified firm in an unidentified industry.  Neither industry nor firm is identified because these aren’t the critical circumstances of the characters.  Survival is the critical circumstance.

Eleanor Matsuura, Sam Troughton and Adam James in the ring for Bull

The three people up for the job have stereotypical characteristics, but dont' fall into caricature.  Isobel is an icy, calculating woman who stalks the arena in stilettos and steely smile.  Eleanor Matsuura is frightening, funny and oddly erotic in the role.  Her Isobel is a very competent bitch, as she describes herself.  If hers was the only character so shrewish Bull might venture into misogyny, it does not because Tony matches her in ruthlessness, swagger and vanity.

Tony is an upper class toff with charm, wit and an ability to disparage others with rapier precision.  Adam James gives devilish life to this bullying sociopath.  Tony can, in the same moment and even the same sentence, be flirtatious with Isobel and yet painfully cutting to the other member of the team, Thomas.

Thomas is the low man on the totem pole, the man destined to be conquered at the end of the evening.  Sam Troughton gives voice to the frustrated Thomas, a man who knows he can’t win and yet can’t afford to lose.

Eleanor Matsuura & Adam James

Thomas seems at the mercy of Isobel and Tony from the moment they come together. Tony and Isobel feast on Thomas’ insecurities.  They tag team Thomas to reduce his self-esteem by methods both obvious and subtle.  Watching their work is like watching an emotional vivisection, where Thomas is the frog, helpless to stop the action.  When Carter, the manager, comes into to evaluate the results, there is no coherent argument left in Thomas, just the rantings of a punch drunk fighter. Neil Stuke plays Carter with a air of self-importance that is neither overpowering nor too subtle.

Bull is a swift 60 minutes, with much of the audience standing around the boxing ring.  It races by.  For a moment near the end, the Bullfight metaphor was too obvious, but it ends quickly and the hyper-stylistic theatrics returned. 

Beautifully directed by Clare Lizzimore, Bull isn’t realistic in a traditional sense, but it has crystalline clarity when defining the journey of Thomas.  Everyone has had their Thomas moments; being on the outside not understanding why.  Isobel eventually tells Thomas why she acts the way she does.  It is scary, painful and what we all fear in our darkest hour.

Mike Bartlett has written this exceptional piece, and it feels a companion his artful work shown here last year, Cock – the Cockfight play.  Both shows are a three-way tug of war, driving their participants to their most raw emotions.  The most obvious difference is that Bull – The Bull Fight Play has a very limited run here, go see it immediately.

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Bull - The Bull Fight Play

Playwright: Mike Bartlett

Director: Clare Lizzimore

Cast: Adam James, Eleanor Matsuura, Neil Struke, Sam Troughton

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Mike Barlett's BULL at Brits Off Broadway

If you, like me, were blown away by COCK- The Cockfight Play last year, then this is exciting.
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(from the Sheffield Theater UK promo)

Mike Bartlett's BULL, the companion piece to last season's Off Broadway hit Cock, is added to the Brits Off Broadway line up

New York, New York March 4, 2013—59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) is thrilled to announce playwright Mike Bartlett's (Artefacts in 2008) return to Brits Off Broadway with the US premiere of BULL, which just ended a successful run at the Crucible Studio, Sheffield.

Directed by Clare Lizzimore, BULL begins previews on Thursday, April 25 for a limited engagement through Sunday, June 2. Opening Night is to be determined. BULL is produced by Sheffield Theatres.

Called "Lord of the Flies in sharp suits for grown ups" (Yorkshire Post), tickets for BULL go on sale on Friday, March 8.

Two jobs. Three candidates. This would be a really bad time to have a stain on your shirt… Written as a companion piece to last season's Off Broadway hit Cock, BULL is a razor sharp play about office politics; or playground bullying – depending which side you’re on.

Presented by 59E59 Theaters, Brits Off Broadway launches on Wednesday, March 27 and runs through Sunday, June 30.  The single ticket prices range from $25 - $70 ($17.50 - $49 for 59E59 Members). Tickets to Brits Off Broadway are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.59e59.org. For more information on Brits Off Broadway, visit www.59E59.org or www.britsoffbroadway.com. ###

London Transfer "Cock", Is a Great Play

The new show at The Duke Theater on 42^nd Street, Cock, is amazing.  At the risk of oversetting expectations, it is a great show - funny and thoughtful.  

The play is self-described in the following way:

 “When John and his boyfriend take a break, the last thing he expects is to suddenly meet the woman of his dreams. Now he has a big choice to make. Don't miss the American premiere of COCK, the gripping new play by Mike Bartlett. James Macdonald (Top Girls, Dying City) directs this Olivier Award-winning production from The Royal Court Theatre”

It is an interesting premise and it explores not just sexuality, but what the impact is on those you are involved with. Cory Michael Smith does a stupendous job as “John”, the young man at the center of this story.  John is a charming mess of a person, unable to commit to anything, even being bi-sexual.  The story starts with John’s gay relationship.  The couple seems reasonably well adjusted, with cute, sit-com mannerisms that usually demark “quirky” rather than a flawed relationship.  But John does find it flawed, and the relationship ends. When it picks up again, John admits to having sex with a woman.

Jason Butler Harner, Amanda Quaid & Cory Michael Smith in Cock

The action then transfers to the relationship between John and the woman.  How they meet, how they have sex, and what comes next.

John’s lovers are played by Jason Butler Harner, the Man and Amanda Quaid, the Woman.  Mr. Harner plays the Man as a very together gay man, quick witted, funny and self-assured.  All of that is proven to be false bravado when John returns, after being with a woman.  Anger and self-doubt begin to drive him after John’s transgressions.  As for Amanda Quaid, she is very good, while stuck with a difficult role.  Wanting to change a gay man is a common theme, but what happens when you get one – and he is still gay.

The fourth cast member is Cotter Smith - who plays the role excellently, but I don’t want to spill too much of the story – so you have to take my word for it.

James MacDonald stages this intimate play in a exceedingly intimate venue.  The Duke has been transformed into a steeply stepped theater in the round.  The audience watches Cock as one would watch an actual cockfight; when you look away from the action for a moment, you are facing other theatergoers in a voyeuristic experience.  It serves the playwright, Mike Bartlett’s, words wonderfully.

Cock is in for a limited run at The Duke, do not miss it.

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Jason Butler Harner & Cory Michael Smith

Cock @ The Duke Theater

Playwright: Mike Bartlett

Director: James Macdonald

Cast: Jason Butler Harner, Amanda Quaid, Cory Michael Smith, Cotter Smith

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