23/08/2026

Preview: The Wasp at Newcastle People's Theatre

A Reunion Turns Deadly in The Wasp at the People's Theatre

Olivier Award-winner Morgan Lloyd Malcolm's sharp psychological thriller The Wasp opens the new season at Newcastle's People's Theatre this September, and it promises to be a gripping way to kick things off.

Heather (Hattie Eason) and Carla (Annie Cairns) were at school together, but their paths haven't crossed since. Heather is now a high-flyer with a loving husband and a big house, while Carla is struggling to make ends meet in a difficult home life. When Heather reaches out and the two arrange to meet, their stilted reunion soon curdles into something far more sinister. Beneath the small talk lies the unshakeable truth that each woman has something the other desperately needs, and once a proposition is put on the table, there's no telling how far things will go.

First staged at Hampstead Theatre's Hampstead Downstairs in 2015 before moving to the West End, the play was praised by The Stage as a taut, teeth-baring piece of drama. It's a description that still holds: darkly funny, unpredictable, and almost impossible to look away from, The Wasp digs into how the wounds of childhood can fester for decades, and just how far someone might go to finally settle the score.

As one line from the play puts it, actions ripple outward in ways we rarely expect. Heather and Carla are about to discover exactly how far the past can reach.

Directed by Rhiannon Wilson, this amateur production is presented by arrangement with Nick Hern Books.

THE WASP by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm

Date: Monday 7 – Saturday 12 September 2026

Time: 7.30pm

Tickets: £20 / £16.50

Venue: People's Theatre, Stephenson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 5QF

Box Office: 0191 265 5020 (option 2)

Website: www.peoplestheatre.co.uk

Cast:

Heather: Hattie Eason

Carla: Annie Cairns

Director: Rhiannon Wilson