[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of Cock Tales: Straight Up, Dirty & Shaken Stories of Lust & Love, written and performed by Lori Hoeft and Macy Pitt at Hollywood Fringe Festival 2024.
Read the Cock Tales interview>>
Solo shows are kind of my thing. I love the intimacy, the rawness, the healing qualities of many of the stories, and the courage it takes for the writer/performers to put everything out there. They can also be extremely entertaining theatre using highly creative and unique ways to tell a story. Lori Hoeft’s Cock Tales is not a totally solo show. She does have an extremely gifted musician on stage with her, making the occasional and entirely unrehearsed spontaneous song up about each portion of the show and each particular and often horrendous man or “cock” Lori has just shared a story about.
But Cock Tales is essentially a solo show. Lori’s story is not unlike many of our own stories. She navigates the unsteady seas of single-dom. One shocking relationship after another. She has a very close relationship with a dotting father who has unfortunately remarried a particularly nasty woman. This affects the last few years of her relationship with him, and when he passes she falls into sadness and loneliness. This of course leads to more bad choices. But the voice of her father guides her still and gives her a renewed sense of strength in herself.
Along the way she adopts Macy Pitt. An adorable beautiful Pit Bull who accompanies her on stage, although she keeps a low profile. Lori saved Macy and Macy has saved Lori in many ways. The love, the devotion and the deep connection they have made is so much more than Lori could ever find with a man, apart from her beloved father of course. And don’t we all know the profound truth of a furry companion?
Lori Hoeft’s heartfelt, hilarious and deeply moving play about her life is an absolute gem of a show. Lori is funny, sweet, gently sarcastic and incredible smart. Her style is laid back but intense. Sweet but brutal. Funny and devastating. The addition of the songs, which are perfection, lifts the show somehow. It punctuates brilliantly what is already a wonderfully balanced, nuanced and incredibly funny honest unfolding of Lori’s deeply relatable experiences. There’s no judgment in the songs as they are sung. Only a bit of anger in these nasty guys and admiration in Lori’s eventual rejection of them. And they are extremely funny. Jimmy Berry is a brilliantly talented singer/songwriter and these observational ditties are a genius way for Lori to open her story up to us. His comments, coming as they do on the heels of a nerve-wracking anecdote, are pretty much what the audience themselves are thinking I imagine. Anger at the guy, indignation on behalf of Lori, and a lot of empathy and “oh I’ve been there too, darling.”
The whole show is brilliant. I loved every part of it and would happily see it again….which says a lot. I highly recommend Cock Tales: Straight Up, Dirty & Shaken Stories of Lust & Love. This is a no miss show this Fringe!!!
Tickets:
https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/10628?tab=tickets
Where:
Los Angeles LGBTQ Center
1125 North McCadden Place, Los Angeles, CA 90038
When:
June 22 at 7pm
June 23 at 7pm (virtually as well as live)