Miscreant Theatre Collective serves up an entertaining ‘The Ever and After’ at Roaming Gnome

A giant cockroach, an Amazon and a sex-bot walk into a wasted landscape …

That’s the setup for the Miscreant Theatre Collective production of The Ever and After by Rachel Teagle. As it did in last year’s Pillowman, Miscreant shows again its comfort level with wrecked societies, police states and the like. This time, the destruction of civilization came from something called the “BFLS” — or big flash, long sizzle. It’s only a few decades on — time enough, so it seems, for at least one hardy cockroach named Thurston to evolve into something extremely large, highly intelligent and annoyingly pedantic.

Played with nerdy aplomb by Liam Broadhurst, Thurston is accompanied by a knife-wielding “Amazon” named Sheelar (a convincing Shea Ketchum). It’s clear they’ve been traveling together some time, with Sheelar providing the protection and Thurston the guidance through the remains of civilization. When they come across a young woman sleeping under a pile of trash, it sets them on a journey of discovery that leads to the very top of what’s left of the power structure in the land.

Makenzie Parimuha is well cast as IDA, a perky automaton in a dirty blue dress who was designed to make babies. Or so she believes. Childlike and speaking in subservient robotese, IDA seems an unlikely survivor in the post-apoc hellscape. Thurston and Sheelar take her under their protection and soon discover she’s more than she seems.

Liam Broadhurst and Shanae Adams in ‘The Ever and After.’ | Photo: Angie Yaeger

We’re also introduced early on to “The President” (Shanae Adams), who makes some official pronouncements and later appears as a malign force in the whole scenario. Adams is a bit restrained in the role, which reduces the impact of the character once we learn what they’re up to.

When Thurston opens his big mouth at a nearby settlement about IDA, he’s followed back to their camp by a guy named Roger. This is Tom Shepard, who’s excellent as the doofus tough guy we later learn has a heart.

While The Ever and After has its fair share of adventure and violence, it ends up focused on a theme of female repression and empowerment. On the one end is the asexual Sheelar who goes from being supremely annoyed by IDA to becoming (along with Thurston) her protector. IDA is part of what’s essentially a giant conspiracy aimed at repopulating the earth at the expense of everything decent.

All of it adds up to a curious bit of theatre that ping-pongs between the comic (a guy in a ridiculous bug costume arguing with everyone around him) and the tragic plot surrounding IDA. On balance, it’s an entertaining play that’s well-acted for the most part and capably directed by Sadie Gracelynn Trigg. It’s not as weighty and oppressive as The Pillowman, but when it comes to building back civilization after the fall, The Ever and After has some interesting things to say about the role of women — and giant cockroaches.