First cast images of Taron Egerton and Jonathan Bailey in Cock released
The actors star in the West End revival of Mike Bartlett's provocative relationship drama.
By Will Stroude
Words: Will Stroude; Images: Matt Crockett
The first official promo pictures of Taron Egerton and Jonathan Bailey together for West End stage show Cock have been released. (Tickets are available here).
Bridgerton star Bailey and Rocketman‘s Egerton will play a couple whose relationship comes under strain in the upcoming London production of Mike Bartlett’s provocatively-titled drama.
Left to right: Taron Egerton plays ‘M’, Jonathan Bailey plays ‘John’ and Jade Anouka plays ‘W’ in Cock (Image: Matt Crockett)
Cock is set for a limited run at London’s Ambassadors Theatre from Saturday 5 March – Saturday 4 June 2022, an co-stars Jade Anouka and Phil Daniels.
The show will mark Egerton’s first theatre role for nine years, while Bailey will be returning to the West End stage for the first time since his Olivier Award-winning turn in the 2018 revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company.
Jonathan Bailey (Image: Matt Crockett)
The director of that production, Marianne Elliott, is also at the helm of Cock, which was first staged in 2009 with Fleabag‘s Andrew Scott and This Is Going To Hurt‘s Ben Whishaw in the lead roles.
An official synopsis of Cock, which was wiritten by Mike Bartlett, reads: “In a world full of endless possibilities why must we still limit ourselves with labels?
Taron Egerton (Image: Matt Crockett)
“Mike Bartlett’s (Doctor Foster) razor sharp play about love and identity redefines the battle of the sexes as we know it.”
Egerton teased the play on The Graham Norton Show earlier this month, branding the story “very, very funny and actually very moving.”
Jade Anouka (Image: Matt Crockett)
“It’s the story of a young gay couple who have been together for a number of years,” Taron explained on the BBC One talk show.
“They end up taking a break… One of them sleeps with somebody else and it transpires that that person is a woman. And what happens is they all try to get together and have a chat about it.”
Bailey, 33, has previously declared that Cock was “ahead of its time” when it was first staged 13 years ago.
Phil Daniels also stars in Cock (Image: Matt Crockett)
The actor, who is gay, told the Daily Mail last year that people are “nervous talking about sexual identity and this movement that’s happening at the moment, with opening the binary structure.”
Discussing his own sexuality and coming out journey with Attitude last year, Bailey said: “I hadn’t necessarily hidden it… But I’ve never been not honest about it. It’s just there had never been a need to talk about it.”
Jonathan Bailey and Taron Egerton (Image: Matt Crockett)
He added: “There’s a sense of shame, I think, that’s palpable throughout gay men within the industry.”
Cock is at London’s Ambassadors Theatre Saturday 5 March – Saturday 4 June 2022. For tickets click here.