THIS SHOW BUGS ME

A Southern Gothic that hints at something
deeper but never quite gets there

For all its promise, Cockroaches, the 2024 Del Shores Foundation Best Play winner by Emma Schillage, leaves you grasping for clarity—and, at times, patience.

Set in a decaying Southern home, the play centers on three sisters—Charlie (Leilani Baldwin), Sissy (Casey Williams), and Jenny (Fatima Reyes)—struggling to cope with their mother’s latest suicide attempt. The premise suggests something potent: trauma, family dysfunction, and the kind of Southern Gothic unease where the grotesque and the psychological blur. And indeed, there are moments when you sense something deeper bubbling beneath the surface.

But too often, that promise gets lost in a cycle of repetitive squabbling. Scenes rarely build; they circle. The sisters argue, then argue again, often at full volume, with little modulation or nuance. Even with head mics, many lines are delivered at a near-shout, flattening emotional variation and making the already dense dialogue feel more exhausting than revealing. The result is a production that feels curiously static, despite its emotional intensity.

The play finds some much-needed oxygen when Mat Hayes enters as a neighborhood man with a questionable past connection to the family. His presence shifts the dynamic, briefly opening the world beyond the sisters’ closed loop of conflict. It’s one of the few moments where the play breathes, and where the stakes feel like they might expand rather than repeat.

There are, however, undeniable strengths. The production design is solid across the board. Joyanne Tracy’s set captures a home that is worn but still clinging to dignity, while Duke Core’s lighting helps shape the shifting tone between realism and something more ominous. Nathan Cox’s sound design provides effective support throughout. And then there’s the mother—when she finally appears, transformed in a way that nods to Franz Kafka, she is clad in one of the most imaginative, life-sized cockroach costumes you’re likely to see onstage. It’s a striking, memorable visual that almost justifies the journey.

Still, for a Southern Gothic dark comedy, the show is surprisingly devoid of humor. The gloom is relentless, and without tonal contrast, the emotional impact begins to dull. You find yourself checking out not because nothing is happening, but because the same emotional note is struck again and again.

It’s frustrating, because Cockroaches feels like a play with something to say. You can sense the themes—trauma, decay, survival—pressing against the surface. But without greater clarity, variation, or trust in quieter moments, they never fully land.

In the end, Cockroaches doesn’t so much crawl under your skin as hover just above it—suggesting something unsettling, but never quite delivering the sting.

Even as director Emerson Collins continues shaping the production, it’s worth noting that Cockroaches exists because of the kind of support many emerging playwrights rarely receive. The Del Shores Foundation, which champions new Southern queer voices, provides not only recognition but tangible pathways to production. However uneven the results onstage, it’s heartening to see organizations like this investing in new work and ensuring that fresh voices find their way from page to performance.

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photos by Tara Howard Photography

Cockroaches
Revolution Stage Company, 611 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs
Thurs & Fri at 7; Sat at 8; Sun at 2
ends on May 3, 2026
95 minutes, no intermission
for tickets ($38), visit Revolution Stage

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