Bull by Mike Bartlett. Directed
by Celine Oudin. Assistant Director Sophia Costello. Producer Chris Baldock. Lighting
Design Rhiley Winnett and Celine Oudin. Set Lighting and Sound Operation Peter
Fock. oncept, Design and Realization Chris Baldock. Costumes Cast. Photography
Celine Oudin, Sophia Costello and Chris Baldock. Mockingbird Studio. Belconnen Arts Centre. July
15 - 18 2026. Bookings: mockingbirdtheatrics.com
Rob Karlen as Thomas. Claire Walker as Isobel in BULL
Having seen Mockingbird Too’s
production of Cock a couple of weeks ago and been very impressed by
Playwright Mike Bartlett’s black comedy about the search for and affirmation of
identity, I was curious to see Bartlett’s companion piece Bull in
Mockingbird Theatre Company’s Belconnen studio. Bull too is set in a
boxing ring, a striking metaphor for the dodging and ducking, circling and
punching that is the cut and thrust of human relationship. The production is
minimalist, devoid of props, enabling Bartlett’s sharp and brutal wit and sparse
but jibing dialogue to galvanize an audience.
It did this in Cock with considerable success. Bull is a
different matter. It is a cruel and nasty piece about office bullying casting a
different meaning on the title of Bartlett’s expose of workplace bullying.
Thomas (Rob Karlen) arrives with Tony (Zaid Fainstein) and Isobel (Claire
White) for a meeting with their boss Mr. Carter (Paul Hutchison). Bartlett’s
analogy with a bullfight is quickly established with Thomas as the hapless
bull, cornered by the two bullfighters, Tony the swift and agile matador and
Claire the decisive, needling second matador, both sent into the ring to finish
off the broken beast. Thomas is no match for the two opponents who gang up on
him and then feed Mr Carter the reason to deliver the final KO.
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| Paul Hutchison as Mr. Carter. Zade Fainstein as Tony in BULL |
Bull is no Cock. The play runs for only about forty-five minutes and is needlessly repetitive. The scenario is quickly established and Karlen’s Thomas is quickly cowed, ridiculed and flattened to the mat. With tighter direction and more carefully staged choreography each bout may have had more impact as tension increased and Thomas’s desperate confusion and subjection to the bullying became more and more intense. Karlen captures the panic of the cornered beast, but it comes too soon and neither he nor Fanstein and White are able to map out a deliberate and invidious trajectory to the bull’s eventual slaughter. A bullfight is a bloody and violent spectacle and an imaginative stylization of Bartlett’s theme would have had more variation than director Celine Oudin brought to this production. For a play set in a corporate business, only Hutchison’s Carter appeared in appropriate costuming. Bartlett’s text suggested a more formal attire.
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| Claire White as Isobel in BULL |
Mockingbird Too provides opportunities for emerging actors and theatre practitioners to learn and develop their craft both on stage and behind the scenes. Artistic director and producer Chris Baldock is providing an important space in which to try out new approaches, take risks and learn. Cock and Bull are both examples of the possibilities that exist to develop and grow. For this reason alone, Bull has earned its place in the Mockingbird Too repertoire.
