We interviewed The UnDisposables about The Wasp- showing for the rest of this weekend only! Book tickets here– they’re flying fast!
The Wasp tackles the unsettling relationship between two old friends. How would you describe their feelings towards one another?
There’s a whole world of feelings between these two women. They clearly intrigue each other and at times their personalities click as though they’re back to being best mates in year 7. However, there’s a sour bitterness between them left from their dark shared past, and a sting of jealously on both sides.
The show appears to have lots of twists and turns, what’s your favourite moment in The Wasp?
A very hard question to answer without giving too much away! But the very end is probably the most powerful part. You find yourself entirely conflicted with right and wrong, good and evil, violence and kindness. I think what’s probably the best part of this play is how flawed both Heather and Carla are, but also how the writing makes you feel entirely on their side at some point or another.
Why was the show titled The Wasp?
The wonderful writer Morgan Lloyd Malcolm would be the best person to answer this, but we have done a lot of research around this metaphor. It’s really interesting that the play is called The Wasp, almost implying there is only one, however having had many debates and discussions over which of these two women are meant to represent ‘the’ wasp in the play, the reality is, I think they both are. Both of them have a sharp sting to their character. It’s an interesting fact too that only female wasps have stingers. The tarantula hawk wasp – which is referred to in the play – is possibly the most vicious wasp of them all, although visually it’s incredibly stunning to look at. There are so many metaphors in this simple yet iconic name for this play, the best way to understand them all would be to come and watch for yourself!
What are 3 adjectives that describe the show?
Gripping. Thrilling. Shocking.
How did The UnDisposables Company begin?
The UnDisposables existed as an idea in our Artistic Director’s head for many years. To get this idea off the ground, we organised several socials and meet ups with a whole bunch of creatives to find out what people what from the arts, and how we can make it happen. We found ourselves pulled towards new writing at first, and in March 2018 we produced a new writing night at The Camden People’s Theatre. To our amazement, even though we were new and unknown, we received over 50 writer submissions and sold the theatre out. This made us think: there is clearly a need for this. We produced another new writing night in July at Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre Pub, receiving even more submissions and selling even more tickets. Fuelled by this fantastic start we then invited 4 of the writers involved to write a 1 hour play for us, which were performed as part of our New Voices Season in Oct/Nov 2018 at Katzpace and Ye Olde Rose and Crown. From there, we turned our heads to work that already exited which inspired us, and found ourselves swarming towards Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s The Wasp, and well, here we are…
What’s up next for The UnDisposables?
I suppose I can tell you this, although, you’re to be the first to hear it so I hope you’re excited! We have been offered another 1 week run at The Space as part of their Summer season with The Jailer’s Daughter. We produced a work-in-progress version of this new play in October as part of the New Voices season, and since then we were very keen to develop it further. We’re currently desperately and excitedly re-writing and editing the script with plans to go into rehearsals in June. The Jailer’s Daughter is a modern re-telling of the life of the character of the same name from Shakespeare and Fletcher’s Two Noble Kinsmen. We have a massive passion for Shakespeare and re-imagining his stories, putting the female characters at the forefront of the play. The Jailer’s Daughter is a modern mash up of Shakespeare, Black Mirror and Love Island, and we are VERY excited to see it extended and developed into its full glory.