A Cock and Bull Story

“We’ve never done this before,” said Willy Barr. What he was talking about was Citadel Youth Centre putting on an acclaimed Fringe Festival production of ‘Cock and Bull story’ which tackled homophobia. Supported by Leith Neighbourhood Partnership and in conjunction with nearby neighbours LGBT youth this, quite literally, hard hitting play had two performances. The toned down version in the afternoon had one teacher scurrying to the back of the hall such was the vigour and realism of the performance of the two actors. The evening had two women in the row behind me gasp out loud at the realistic head butt between the two protagonists.

This highly charged performance was followed by a discussion about male identity, as well as the impact of physical violence and verbal violence on relationships. Working in a space as big as a boxing ring the actors sparred physically and verbally in a way that made the audience part of the performance .We were all ringside. And could only applaud and admire the performance of the two actors and the very tight production by producer Liam Rudden. This might have been a first for the Citadel but I do hope they go for a rematch.

Gordon Munro