Wasp

By (author): Rhiannon Collett

In a town ruled by a shadowy cult, outliers Wasp and Janey nurture a dwindling community of queer resistance. Faced with social isolation and medical barriers, they remain determined to make things work and defend their home. Meanwhile, the Prophet’s daughters grapple with their own sense of home. True-believer Caroline anticipates a lavish future in the cult, but Rachel pushes back at its narrow-minded structures. When birth control is banned and Wasp’s ex-boyfriend Isaac turns up with a suspiciously generous offer, all of their lives are thrown into disarray. Suddenly the clock is ticking, and the cult is closing in. Who can they trust? And who’s in on the game? An electrifying exploration of body autonomy and reproductive rights, Wasp will leave you ready to fight.

AUTHOR

Rhiannon Collett

Rhiannon Collett (they/them) is a playwright, performer, and translator based in Vancouver on the territories of the Squamish, Musqueam, and Tsleil-Waututh nations. They are interested in interdisciplinary creation processes, sexual labour, gender performativity, and science fiction. Selected playwriting credits include Miranda & Dave Begin Again (Playwrights Guild of Canada RBC Emerging Playwright Award), Wasp (Nightswimming/safeword), The Kissing Game (Youtheatre/Young People’s Theatre), J’ai Jamais (French translation by Pénélope Bourque, Youtheatre/Télé-Québec/Maison Théâtre) and Girlfriend (Young People’s Theatre).


Reviews

Wasp dreams of the lurid shapes resistance can take in a society where the forces of conformity are monstrously armed.” 


– Daniel Sarah Karasik, award-winning author of Plenitude and Faithful and Other Stories

“Through unexpected allegory and visceral imagery, Rhiannon Collett conjures a nightmarish yet familiar world. Wasp doesn’t shy away from themes of bodily subjugation and validation through violence, but this sophisticated and chilling play leaves us hope in the form of resistance against the forces that would destroy us.”


– Christine Quintana, author of Selfie and Espejos: Clean

Wasp is a bold, irreverent, and unflinching play, and Wasp the kind of theatrical hero I have, without realizing, been waiting all my life to encounter.” 


– Jordan Tannahill, author of Is My Microphone On? and The Listeners

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Excerpts & Samples ×

ISAAC.
So what are you going to do?

WASP.
The same thing as I did before. Whiskey, cigarettes, secret ingredient—

ISAAC.
Not answering my phone calls.

WASP.
You deleted my number, remember?

ISAAC.
I lied. Still got it.

WASP.
I mean up until today I didn’t really think you’d be calling me anyways.

ISAAC.
Does James know?

WASP.
No.

ISAAC.
How is that even possible? He was in the same grade as us.

WASP.
She. Isaac. And . . . I don’t know. Janey’s forgetful. I lied.

ISAAC.
You lied about your birthday?

WASP.
She thinks it’s later in the year. I don’t really make a habit of sharing the information.

ISAAC.
Damn, you really like to go it alone.

WASP.
I can take care of myself. You should try it sometime.

ISAAC.
Yeah yeah whatever, Wasp. Don’t pretend like you didn’t miss me a little bit.

Wasp, ignoring him.

WASP.
I did it before. I’ll do it again. What more is there to know?

ISAAC.
It’s not the same. When they take you. It’s not the same thing. For one, they’ll expect you to be at the Altar.

WASP.
I’m gonna do it in the forest.

ISAAC.
They’ll go looking for you. The Reverend will definitely be on the prowl.

WASP.
Right, lest we forget your father-in-law the raccoon killer.

ISAAC.
Not just raccoons.

WASP.
I’ll take my chances. I’ll hide. I’m good at hiding.

Isaac gives them a look.

I am!

ISAAC.
Okay, so what if you can’t do it?

WASP.
If I have hands and a bottle of Coke, I can do it.

ISAAC.
Well what if they cut your hands off?

WASP.
What, the angels are going to come down, rape me and then cut my hands off? Pull my tongue out while they’re at it so I can’t scream?

ISAAC.
I’m just saying—what if you get incapacitated and then you can’t help yourself.

Wasp is silent.

You have to have a backup plan. You have to have . . . support. You know the story about the girl who didn’t go to The Altar. Well?

WASP.
Ah yes, the classic tale of the dumb bitch who didn’t do the ceremonial bath, who didn’t pluck her pubes for God, who didn’t do shit!

ISAAC.
Yeah. Sound familiar?

Wasp, intoning.

WASP.
The girl hid in the birch tree forest, and from the bright blue sky, the heavenly host flew down and through her like golden bullets of rape. Buzz buzz buzz. And being raped hurt so much that she had a change of heart! Maybe the cult was right all along! She staggered back into town and tried to get help at the Altar. She asked the Reverend for medical attention and he said, “You might be a child of God, but you chose to be a dumb whore! Pay for your sin!”

ISAAC.
He really has a way with words.

WASP.
So she waited in the parking lot for him to change his mind. She had no other options. And while she waited, the angel baby ate her from the inside out. No help came, so she bled out in the parking lot. And the cult came out as she was dying, collected the baby and then went back inside. And she was dead. The end.
A classic tale of the mistakes women make when they’re trying to maintain their bodily autonomy.

ISAAC.
Well what if she’d had a friend.

WASP.
I’m sure she had lots of friends, Isaac.

ISAAC.
Well what if she had a friend to do an abortion for her.

WASP.
That friend would be in just as much danger as her.

ISAAC.
Well what if the friend had special privileges because he was banging the Reverend’s daughter.

WASP.
I don’t think that’s a privilege, Isaac.

ISAAC.
I-I want to see it happen. I want to be there.

WASP.
So go ask Caroline. I’m sure she’d be more than happy to have you in the viewing room at the Altar. You’d probably get a reserved seat for “boyfriend of the sacrificial not-so-virgin.”

Reader Reviews

Details

Dimensions:

88 Pages
8.35in * 5.35in * .25in
130.00gr
.30lb

Published:

December 06, 2022

ISBN:

9780369102997

Book Subjects:

DRAMA / LGBTQ+

Language:

eng

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