Jade Anouka on starring in COCK with Taron Egerton, Jonathan Bailey and Phil Daniels

Virgin Radio

13 Mar 2022, 14:09

The His Dark Materials star joined the Graham Norton Radio Show with Waitrose - with our stand in host Andi Peters - to talk about her latest play COCK with Taron Egerton, Jonathan Bailey and Phil Daniels.

Talking about her role in Mike Bartlett's play which redefines the battle of the sexes, she said: "Well, it's a very modern, very fast-paced, really funny love triangle play. There is the character of John played by Jonathan Bailey who's in a relationship with M played by Taron Egerton. But they go on a break. While they're on a break, John meets W, the woman of his dreams. Basically he tells each person he's going to break up with the other person but keeps seeing them both and then there's a big dinner at the end where it all comes out and it's really tense, it’s really stressful and it's also really funny. It's a drama, comedy, farce, thriller.

“The set is really minimal. There are no props, as per the writer Mike Bartlett says in the script he doesn't want any props or any scenery. So we're out there very exposed and it's really great because Mike Bartlett's words are thankfully brilliant. I've been lucky to work with him before. I did his TV show Trauma and his words are amazing."

How does it feel performing again? She explained: "When you're up there and when you haven't been on the stage for a few years because of lockdowns it's quite scary to come back to a play like this with only four of us.

“It actually doesn't feel very lonely, it feels very much like we're a little family especially because we were rehearsing for about five weeks beforehand. We really do feel like we are a team trying to tell this story in the best way possible. It's only a limited run though. It's 12 weeks, so we finish on 4th June."

On loving working again on stage post-lockdown, she said: "Luckily, the film industry and screen stuff has managed to continue, it's easier to bubble up in groups, but theatre is hard because obviously we need the audience. We need people to come together, that's what makes it so special so it's really lovely to be back on stage and to be sharing a story like this with loads of people because it has been difficult the last few years."

COCK is at the Ambassadors Theatre in London until Saturday 4 June.

Listen to The Graham Norton Radio Show every Saturday AND Sunday from 9:30 am on Virgin Radio or catch up on-demand here.