by The Chubby Northerner • Directed by Joseph Walsh

Condoms & Cucumbers is an award winning bold, witty solo show exploring the messy contradictions of modern masculinity. Blending spoken word, theatre, comedy, and audience interaction, it invites you to help rewrite the rules of “being a man.” From locker rooms to leotards, sex ed to Brits abroad, it unpacks the pressures and stereotypes that shape male identity. Funny, honest, and thought-provoking, this is a shared experience that sparks conversation and challenges us to talk more openly.

British Theatre Guide Review

https://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/condoms-and-cuc-the-kings-arms-25766

Condoms and Cucumbers is a hard show to categorise. The format is close to nostalgic autobiography and observational comedy. Stocks, however, brings a theatrical aspect with frequent costume changes to reflect the time period being discussed. More significantly, when Stocks is not interacting with the audience, he communicates entirely in the form of poetry. Rather than the machine-gun delivery and abstract, absurdist tone of, say, John Cooper Clarke, Stocks’s poetry is reflective and conversational: a self-questioning soliloquy.

A crass heckle when Stocks is performing a karaoke number leads him to question his body image and, by extension, the definition of a man in the modern world. However, he needs a great deal of assistance, and asks for regular input from the audience to help develop new rules that determine masculinity.

A comedian interacting with their audience is often a confrontational process intended to make the former look funny or their position unassailable. Stocks takes the reverse approach and is respectful of, and seems genuinely interested in, opinions offered by the audience. Indeed, he seems willing to acknowledge flaws in his own arguments brought to light as part of the process.

Condoms and Cucumbers is heavily autobiographical, and Stocks occasionally refers to material which influenced his generation (lads’ mags, the American Pie movies) but is now out of date. A virile, noble member of the audience (me) is asked to demonstrate the correct method of rolling a condom onto a cucumber to prove the inadequacy of sex education methods. A teacher present, however, remarks educational techniques have moved on, and Stocks takes the point. An odd feature tonight is that, despite the subject being men, the audience comprises mainly women, including a party from Romania.

There is an undeniable nostalgic aspect to the show, with Stocks recalling boozy misadventures on holidays or awkward courtship rituals whilst watching movies. However, he is able to bring the show bang up to date by linking ill-informed perceptions of masculinity to the aggressive behaviour displayed by people marching to articulate grievances and their appropriation of the British flag. The subsequent discussion amongst the audience as to whether it is still possible, in the light of such behaviour, to feel proud of one’s country is quite moving.

Although Stocks leaves himself emotionally open by mentioning specific autobiographical incidents, he concentrates upon more general events which the audience is most likely to have shared. The success of the show is heavily dependent upon the audience being willing to participate. If the audience was stand-offish or had too much to drink, the show would be a washout. But Stocks’s engaging personality secures a high level of involvement.

Condoms and Cucumbers is a unique combination of poetry slam and social interaction. It tackles the complex and confusing issue of masculinity in an original and engaging manner.

Description supplied by the event organiser.