Bull

Reviewed by Terry Morgan
The MET Theatre
Through June 26

RECOMMENDED

Mike Bartlett’s Bull, a loose companion piece to his play, Cock, is witty and devastating in its depiction of workplace cruelty. Although it can be hard to watch, Rogue Machine’s West Coast premiere is a terrific production, tightly directed by Jennifer Pollono and brilliantly acted by a superb ensemble.

Thomas (Joshua Bitton), Isobel (Lesley Fera) and Tony (Kevin Daniels) are waiting for a meeting with their boss, Carter (Alex Whittington) wherein one of them will be let go due to downsizing. Isobel and Tony tease Thomas mercilessly, but he’s used to it and tries to give back as good as he gets. As the wait goes on, however, the bullying becomes more serious, and Thomas realizes he has cause for genuine alarm.

Bitton is heartbreaking as the outmatched Thomas, never more moving than in a moment when someone criticizes him for not fighting back and he responds with frustration that he is fighting back, and no one is noticing. Daniels is great as the preening “alpha predator” Tony, who radiates smug confidence. Fera is his equal as the gleefully awful Isobel, who precedes her most vicious attacks with a statement of patently false friendship – “I’m only trying to be nice.” Whittington makes the most of his stage time as Carter, the suave monster that Tony and Isobel hope to become.

Pollono’s staging maximizes the physical tension inherent in the script, and she gets excellent work from her actors. Bartlett’s writing in this piece exemplifies the precision of British upper-class verbal warfare in the way that every dagger slides in with a polite snick. The play’s underlying meaning is delivered in a nicely offhand speech at its conclusion, but there is a criticism to be made that this one-act could be just as potent in a somewhat abbreviated form. Overall though, Bull is a powerful and memorable piece of theatre.

The MET Theater, 1089 N. Oxford Ave., Los Angeles; June 26. https://roguemachinetheatre.com. Running time: 50 minutes.