Cock and Bull at the Southbank Centre

Cock and Bull is an intelligent piece of experimental theatre, which was originally created for the eve of the 2015 general election. Now that the country is on the brink of another election, the production is back to ridicule the elite and give a voice to the disenchanted. This performance is minimalistic and the only props used are music, lighting, three chairs and the actors’ clothes.

The play is a literal and physical deconstruction of British politics. This show consists of three female performers; Nic Green, Rosana Cade and Laura Bradshaw all command the stage with ease and can drastically change the mood of the room in seconds. When we first see them they are identically dressed in neat blue suits complete with gold hands and gold facial hair, but as our deconstruction goes on they literally strip down to reveal the truth underneath.

Cock and Bull is a mixture of physical theatre, performance art, experimental dance, music and words, particularly the words “hard-working people”. The cast chant this phrase until viewers start praying they’ll stop, and then the music changes and they suddenly start undressing and simulating sex acts. This is a highly entertaining, irreverent scene, which ridicules the politicians (particularly David Cameron and Donald Trump), but it also has another darker meaning: the politicians are, quite literally, screwing the people.

The mood quickly alters again. The chorus of “hard-working people” is still going, but now it is weary. The performers are no longer gold-handed politicians, they now embody the “working people” who are being worked to exhaustion. The voices change and, rather than visualising David Cameron and Ed Milliband, we now see poor workers who, no matter how hard they try, are still not reaping any benefits. The gold is gone, the hair is untidy, and the actors stand semi-naked to reveal the truth behind those empty words.

Cock and Bull would have been very effective in 2015, but the image of three gold-handed, middle-aged white male elites doesn’t work so well this time around. No matter what one thinks of Jeremy Corbyn, they can hardly say he is a carbon copy of Theresa May. However, this performance will still resonate with those who feel abandoned by modern politics. Not everyone will enjoy the play but those who do will leave the Southbank Centre feeling that, perhaps for the first time, their concerns have been addressed.

Sophia Moss
Photo: Julia Bauer

Cock and Bull is at the Southbank Centre from 25^th until 30^th April, for further information or to book visit here.