Cockroach – confronting and uncensored

Developed by emerging artists at Canberra Youth Theatre in 2011, Cockroach by Sam Holcroft is a confronting and uncensored look into the hearts and minds of young people reaching towards adulthood.

A city very like ours has been at war for a long time and a group of high school students and their young teacher face a future where young men are conscripted (and dying) and women are valued for their reproductive worth. Stuck in biology class detention, they’re meant to be learning about evolution and question who is really the fittest to survive.

With honest performances, a stunning white design made for blood and Sharpie scribblings, and a script written from the heart, what struck me most was its bleak view of the future. We all know that being a grown up doesn’t mean that we act grown up or make better choices, but I was surprised to see so little hope.

But this is what drives the story. How does anyone face a future when they don’t have hope?

It’s disappointing that in a three-night season, the second night had such a small audience. Youth theatre may not have the polish of experience, but it’s one of the few ways to really see how young people see the world (and us).