OutlawPlay and REDCAT present the world premiere of
Directed by Sara Lyons
Co-Producer/Production Manager
BBC (Big Black Cockroach) is an experimental theater work inspired by Kafka, classical European mythology, American comic books and current events. In this nightmarish satire, a right-wing American white woman awakens to find herself in an unfamiliar place and transformed into a Black man. BBC mixes a disorienting cocktail of historical and contemporary traumas and future visions in its depiction of imperiled Blackness in America.
Cogent direction and innovative design elements—including projections and a spatialized sound design built entirely from recordings of Outlaw’s voice and movements and echoing the expanding identities within the protagonist—support an unflinching script and an identity-warping performance that combines elements of silent film acting, audio drama, naturalism, Theater of the Absurd, stand-up comedy and poetry slam.
Outlaw’s dissociative shifts between male Blackness and female whiteness are a variation on the loss of identity experienced by Gregor Samsa in The Metamorphosis as he succumbs to an existence as a cockroach. However, the creature at the center of BBC (Big Black Cockroach) is not “a monstrous vermin,” but rather an imprisoned human being in distress.
The production’s indelible central image—a Black male body in stark isolation—becomes the vessel for America’s violent past, present, and future.
Written and Performed by Paul Outlaw
Directed by Sara Lyons
Lighting Design by Chu-hsuan Chang
Sound Design by Jonathan Snipes
Projections and Visual Media Design by Hana S. Kim
Stage Management by Lanae Wilks
PR: Matt Johnstone Publicity
Produced by OutlawPlay
Production Managed and Co-Produced by Brooke Harbaugh
Photography by Angel Origgi
![]()
PRAISE FOR THE WORLD PREMIERE OF BBC (BIG BLACK COCKROACH) -
“Outlaw’s performance is captivating and heavy-hitting, pulling the audience into a rollercoaster of self-reflection whether they are ready for it or not.”
-
Steven Vargas, LA Dance Chronicle full review
![]()
“BBC (Big Black Cockroach) is a beautifully manifested experimental performance meditating on race, gender and the political times we are in. Working with a extraordinary design team that elegantly displays REDCAT’s potential, the piece is captivating and held in its virtuosity by the presence of the veteran Outlaw, who is offering a bit of a master class in how one holds
ease and extreme tension at the same time on stage.”
-
Luis Alfaro, Playwright (Oedipus El Rey, Mojada, Electricidad), performance artist, theater director and social activist
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
The creation of this project has been supported, in part, by a Los Angeles County Performing Arts Recovery Grant; two Foundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA) Emergency Grants; three Lincoln City Fellowships from the Speranza Foundation; residencies at the Ucross Foundation and Los Angeles Performance Practice.
BBC (Big Black Cockroach)
Written and Performed by Paul OutlawDirected by Sara Lyons
Co-Producer/Production Manager
BBC (Big Black Cockroach) is an experimental theater work inspired by Kafka, classical European mythology, American comic books and current events. In this nightmarish satire, a right-wing American white woman awakens to find herself in an unfamiliar place and transformed into a Black man. BBC mixes a disorienting cocktail of historical and contemporary traumas and future visions in its depiction of imperiled Blackness in America.
Cogent direction and innovative design elements—including projections and a spatialized sound design built entirely from recordings of Outlaw’s voice and movements and echoing the expanding identities within the protagonist—support an unflinching script and an identity-warping performance that combines elements of silent film acting, audio drama, naturalism, Theater of the Absurd, stand-up comedy and poetry slam.
Outlaw’s dissociative shifts between male Blackness and female whiteness are a variation on the loss of identity experienced by Gregor Samsa in The Metamorphosis as he succumbs to an existence as a cockroach. However, the creature at the center of BBC (Big Black Cockroach) is not “a monstrous vermin,” but rather an imprisoned human being in distress.
The production’s indelible central image—a Black male body in stark isolation—becomes the vessel for America’s violent past, present, and future.
Written and Performed by Paul Outlaw
Directed by Sara Lyons
Lighting Design by Chu-hsuan Chang
Sound Design by Jonathan Snipes
Projections and Visual Media Design by Hana S. Kim
Stage Management by Lanae Wilks
PR: Matt Johnstone Publicity
Produced by OutlawPlay
Production Managed and Co-Produced by Brooke Harbaugh
Photography by Angel Origgi
PRAISE FOR THE WORLD PREMIERE OF BBC (BIG BLACK COCKROACH) -
“Outlaw’s performance is captivating and heavy-hitting, pulling the audience into a rollercoaster of self-reflection whether they are ready for it or not.”
-
Steven Vargas, LA Dance Chronicle full review
“BBC (Big Black Cockroach) is a beautifully manifested experimental performance meditating on race, gender and the political times we are in. Working with a extraordinary design team that elegantly displays REDCAT’s potential, the piece is captivating and held in its virtuosity by the presence of the veteran Outlaw, who is offering a bit of a master class in how one holds
ease and extreme tension at the same time on stage.”
-
Luis Alfaro, Playwright (Oedipus El Rey, Mojada, Electricidad), performance artist, theater director and social activist
“BBC (Big Black Cockroach) made me uncomfortable, which is a powerful thing (and very hard to do these days). A profound, lacerating meditation on anti-Black racism.”
-
Amelia Jones
Curator, professor and art historian (In Between Subjects:
A Critical Genealogy of Queer Performance)
-
Amelia Jones
Curator, professor and art historian (In Between Subjects:
A Critical Genealogy of Queer Performance)
“Kaleidoscopic agit-prop and a dissociative jubilee: BBC (Big Black Cockroach) is an electric, fully realized show.”
-
Heather Woodbury
Playwright/performer (Tale of 2Cities,As the Globe Warms)
-
Heather Woodbury
Playwright/performer (Tale of 2Cities,As the Globe Warms)
The creation of this project has been supported, in part, by a Los Angeles County Performing Arts Recovery Grant; two Foundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA) Emergency Grants; three Lincoln City Fellowships from the Speranza Foundation; residencies at the Ucross Foundation and Los Angeles Performance Practice.
BROOKE HARBAUGH
CREATIVE PRODUCER LOS ANGELES, CALIF.
CREATIVE PRODUCER LOS ANGELES, CALIF.