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Cockfight

The Farm

The Office mashed with a cage fight.
A dangerously comic physical performance.
An emotive generational showdown.
A cockfight.

Two blokes in an office: one older, one younger.

A cross between The Office and a cage fight, Cockfight is a game of comical one-upmanship that builds to moments of emotive impact, where generational truths are exposed and unpacked. A flash of bared teeth, a territorial pissing contest, the desperation of needing to prove yourself versus the need to hold on to what you’ve got.

Cockfight explores the power play between men, the frailty of the ageing body and questions our culture’s desperate struggle for achievement.

A full-throttle mashup of extreme physical risk-taking, graceful movement and slow-mo fight sequences, this darkly humorous and surprisingly tender piece of dance theatre by acclaimed Gold Coast/Berlin company The Farm, sees long-time creative collaborators Joshua Thomson and Gavin Webber reassess who is in charge.

Two performers on a stage: one older, one younger.

At The Farm, work is made in a collaborative process where everyone brings their expertise without being confined to it. All animals are equal.

“…the work is physical theatre at its most extreme: bodies slam into walls and office furniture, and perilous interlocking rolls, tackles and lunges fling performers through space.”

The Australian

Credits

Directors

  • Kate Harman
  • Julian Louis
  • Joshua Thomson
  • Gavin Webber

Performed by

  • Joshua Thomson
  • Gavin Webber

Lighting Design

  • Mark Howett

Lighting Realiser

  • Chloe Ogilvie

Sound Design

  • Luke Smiles

Set Design

  • Joey Ruigrok & Joshua Thomson

Produced by

  • The Farm in association with NORPA & Performing Lines

Information for Presenters

Available for international touring through Performing Lines.

Vanessa Wright Senior Producer

Presentation History

2018
Empire Theatre
Toowoomba, QLD
Darwin Entertainment Centre
Darwin, NT
Theatre Royal
Hobart, TAS
Frankston Arts Centre
Frankston, VIC
Gasworks Arts Park
Melbourne, VIC
Mandurah Performing Arts Centre
Mandurah, WA
Arts Margaret River
Margaret River, WA
State Theatre Centre of WA
Perth, WA
Canberra Theatre Centre
Canberra, ACT
View full Presentation History

Full Presentation History for Cockfight

2018
Empire Theatre
Toowoomba, QLD
Darwin Entertainment Centre
Darwin, NT
Theatre Royal
Hobart, TAS
Frankston Arts Centre
Frankston, VIC
Gasworks Arts Park
Melbourne, VIC
Mandurah Performing Arts Centre
Mandurah, WA
Arts Margaret River
Margaret River, WA
State Theatre Centre of WA
Perth, WA
Canberra Theatre Centre
Canberra, ACT
2017
Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral
Santiago, Chile
Home of the Arts
Gold Coast, QLD
Laban Theatre
London, UK
Storyhouse
Chester, UK
Gulbenkian
Canterbury, UK
Lighthouse
Poole, UK
CAST
Doncaster, UK
Oxford Playhouse, Pegasus Theatre
Oxford, UK
Nottingham Playhouse
Nottingham, UK
Jerwood Dancehouse
Ipswich, UK
Dance Massive, Arts House
Melbourne, VIC
2016
APAM at QPAC
Brisbane, QLD
2015
Centre of Contemporary Arts
Cairns, QLD
Dance North
Townsville, QLD
NORPA
Lismore, NSW

Project Partners & Acknowledgements

In everything we do, we acknowledge that we live on Aboriginal land and constantly learn from the wisdom of First Peoples.

Where we are and the history that precedes us informs how we work and how we move forward.