SECRETS COCK TAVERN THEATRE

With the enticing title of Secrets and publicity that promised ‘explosive drama,’ I was all set for an exciting night out at the latest play at the Cock Tavern Theatre. However this rather tame and unfocused contribution offers little in the way of startling confessions or dramatic originality.

Created by Flexible Productions, eight actors reveal their own, true-life secrets through devised enactments. Amongst those unravelling their inner-most shames are a traumatised woman revisiting her sadistic relationship with a boyfriend, a closet queen, a supposedly reformed bully and a questionable victim of sexual abuse. Apart from Helen Briscoe’s disturbing revelations it’s all a bit timid, confused and ultimately shallow. In fact there are the secrets which are so vaguely wafted about that’s it hard to actually pin-point what they actually are.

This awkward effort lets down the usual high standard of work that the Cock has consistently produced in the past. The writing is all over the place, contrived and clumsily structured with some scenes adding little to the storyline or development of the characters. Indeed the only revelation this play really offers is the ability of the exceptionally skilled cast to create engaging, truthful performances despite being in a production that under Danielle Coleman’s messy direction, looks like a drama school creation. This further is emphasised by a bricolage of victim headlines glued onto a cheap looking backdrop as the centre piece for the set.
Helen Briscoe is exceptional in all her roles, James Dutton convincing as the bully and a suspected victim, Andrew Cleave very watchable as the put-upon psychologist and Shireen Walton adds some equally comic and moving moments to the play.
The telling of secrets have been the basis for many a successful drama. This is not one of them.
OLIVER VALENTINE
www.cocktaverntheatre.com