Brad Cook
EVENT: He's acting in Requiem for the Pink Flamingo, Bill Ratcliffe's new play about a gay bar being turned into a sports bar. Requiem opens at Theatre Babylon this week. See listings.

Ever had any homoerotic experiences? "I suppose everybody has, haven't they?"

Want to share any of yours? "Not really. If this was more of a personal conversation, just me and you, then maybe."

Pretend we're alone. "But we're not, are we. That's the problem with talking to newspaper guys, they're never alone."

Are you designing the set this time as well? "Yeah."

Do you require that when you act in a show? "No, it just sometimes works out that way."

You don't want to make sure you look good against the background? "Or not so good, as the case may be."

Like when? "Playing a villain, I suppose--but I guess when I play villains, I tend to look good, like in The Racket. That was a nice suit, huh?"

What inspires you when you design a set? "The set should encompass the atmosphere and concept of the show, in its style--realistic, fantasy, that sort of thing--and fit the budget. When you have less, you have to be more clever, as opposed to--what's the old adage in filmmaking, 'Just because you throw more money at the problem, that doesn't make it go away.'"

Give me some examples of your ingenuity. "With The Racket, we had a small space and we had to have two offices. We wanted the two walls to pivot; we couldn't afford a revolve, so what happened was a piece of carpet and some long screws and 13 people--and the walls moved."

What are the problems of this play? "Well, I don't want to give it away, but we have to burn the bar down, and we have to do it three times a week for five weeks."

And how do you solve that? "That you'll have to come and see for yourself."