Wasp Review – school bully reunion has no sting | Theater

Ain the fantasy revenge between a school bully and his bully, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s 2015 drama takes place at the end of the game. Heather (Cassandra Hercules) is targeted by Carla (Serin Ibrahim), an old friend turned class bully whose campaign culminates in harassment.

Decades later, they meet, ostensibly to make amends, but Heather has dark intentions. It is clear that the tables have turned in a short time: Carla is now the one oppressed by life, not making enough money, getting pregnant for the fifth time without joy and in an unhappy relationship. In contrast, Heather is a wealthy professional who shoots Carla with a trick, letting her know who came out on top.

There are plenty of plot twists in director James Haddrell’s production, though none of them are believable or dangerous. The play ends well enough, but something constant remains, with a first act that ends prematurely, and a very long second half that seems written in a different way than the first.

At first, scenes are repeated from different angles, with the sound of wasps signaling dangerous times. But the unnatural elements disappear over time, which leaves the layers.

Underneath the far-fetched – and outlandish – plotting are serious concerns about the mark that childhood abusers leave and how this carries over into adulthood. The metaphor of the tarantula hawk, a wasp that eats inside the victim, may represent the violence of a bully or a bully, whose anger eats away at him. Class and privilege contribute to the exchange between Heather and Carla, while the larger story about the bullied child is also involved: we hear about Carla’s home life and the abuse she has experienced. Can this excuse what Heather did? And can the victim find catharsis, even when revenge is instituted? Those interesting questions are interrupted by a busy plot.

As a revenge thriller with Hitchcockian ambitions, it’s original but ultimately lacks a deadly sting.