Review - The Wasp - The Little Theatre

The Wasp
The Little Theatre 
5th September 2022

Presented by the Progressive Players 

Directed by Nicola Bache 

Cast
Carla - Suzanne Clare 
Heather - Zoe Ann Slade

Monday evening saw me at the Little Theatre in Gateshead. A new venue for me, and I'm not sure why I've not been to this lovely little theatre before! It's a bit of a hidden gem, nestled on a street corner over the road from Saltwell Park. Its location is as lovely as the venue itself. I don't think I have ever been made to feel so welcome in a theatre - I'm sure it wasn't just because I was there to review the show! I know it wasn't - because it was not just the staff who made me feel welcome - my seat was in front of two lovely ladies who struck up a conversation and shared their ideas about the forthcoming show - a psychological thriller, with a big twist at the end, so they'd been told. At the interval they told me their theory, and they'd come up with quite a twist! And blow me it at the end they hadn't got it spot on! Sherlock Holmes couldn't have done better. 

And so to the show...a psychological thriller with a killer twist. My dilemma now is to tell you about it without giving anything away. There can't be any spoilers - you need to come along and see if you can do as well as my two ladies with no extra clues! so I shall tell you the plot to a point. Wasp is the story of Carla and Heather two women from completely different backgrounds thrown together in school. One time friends, then bitter, bitter enemies and now, years later, one of them is looking to reconcile their differences. Maybe. 

Over three acts the history of the two women is revealed, as together they devise a plot to murder. They swing back and forth between old enmities and apparent new-found common ground.  These two women share a dark past, and are plotting a darker future, but they are not friends and never will be, but they may just be able to lay their ghosts to rest, if the plan works out. If the plan works out. The question is, whose plan? As the play progresses, we become more and more aware of the underlying tension, and the feeling that things may not be quite what they seem. 

The two actors play their parts almost to perfection.  Carla is played convincingly by Suzanne Clare, pregnant straight out of school, now mother of four and another on the way, she is barely making ends meet.  While Heather, well off, stylish, seemingly has everything she could ever want. Zoe Ann Slade plays her with an exaggerated pluminess which fits the character perfectly - a little over the top, eager to show off how well she has done for herself, but somehow not quite ringing true. You will find yourself liking and loathing both characters at points throughout the play. Two completely different women, with a shared past. What will the future bring them? And will it be worth it?

Though there is a lot of humour in Act One, this is by no means light entertainment, it is a tense, dark and unsettling play. It asks questions about friendship, love and betrayal, about childhood and adulthood. It is about the lasting effects that events can have on a child. It is about revenge, and revenge is brutal. 

This was the directorial debut for Nicole Bache. A brave choice well executed, with two excellent performances by the Zoe Anne Slade and Suzanne Clare. The set was simple, and unfussy but with some apt projection on the backdrop to keep the title of the play in mind. 

If you like a tense thriller that keeps you guessing and gets you thinking, then The Wasp is well worth seeing. It plays at the Little Theatre until 10th September. Tickets are available from the box office in advance on 0191 4781499 or book online at www.littletheatregateshead.co.uk 

Photograph credit: Jenny Race

Denise Sparrowhawk