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WASP | Introduction

Steve Martin’s one act play, WASP, was first published in New York City in 1996. In this play, Martin presents his view of the traditional culture of White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (hereafter referred to as W.A.S.P.s). The play’s family is not an individual family, rather it is a family whose characteristics refer to typical W.A.S.P. values. The play’s setting, a ‘‘fifties house,’’ possibly indicates Martin’s sense that the 1950s was the last decade in which this culture flourished in the United States in its traditional form.

As an exploration of traditional White Anglo- Saxon Protestant culture, WASP joins a great deal of art and scholarship on the subject. W.A.S.P. culture, in its U.S. (as opposed to British) variant, is interesting to scholars and artists for many reasons. The major reason is that W.A.S.P. values have signifi- cantly shaped U.S. culture. White Anglo-Saxon Protestants were the dominant ethnicity when the nation was in its infancy, and this culture remained influential for a very long time afterwards.

This play touches on Martin’s familiar themes. For example, he shows that the father is the dominant parent in the household. The mother’s lesser status points to the gender inequality of traditional W.A.S.P. culture, of which Martin’s play is critical. WASP also makes much of its characters’ secret yearnings for passion and intimacy. With this, Martin points to another common criticism of traditional W.A.S.P. culture, namely its valuing of emotional reticence; critics say this is an unhealthy repression.

Martin’s first play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, fared much better than WASP did with audiences and critics. Nonetheless, as critics say, WASP has its strong points. It remains in print along with other plays by Martin in an edition published by Samuel French, Inc., in 1998.

WASP Summary

Scene 1
The opening setting of Martin’s play, WASP, is a ‘‘kitchen in a fifties’ house,’’ in which the characters of Dad, Mom, Sis, and Son are eating. Dad is saying grace. Son asks him where heaven is. Dad replies that it is seventeen miles above earth. Son responds by citing his school science learning, which appears to him to refute Dad’s certainty about the location of heaven. Dad derides science as un- Christian.

Next, Dad receives a phone call. It appears to be bad news about one of his business ventures. The family begins to quake in fear, evidently expecting the brunt of Dad’s wrath. But the telephone conversation ends with Dad laughing, so they all ‘‘relax.’’

Next, Mom gets a call. It is good news for her. She returns to the table talking about her call, but nobody pays her any attention. Dad begins talking over her, and Mom is silenced, mid-story.

The family by now is eating dessert. Mango, Son learns, is in the Jell-O. He is horrified at the prospect of having to consume something unfamiliar. He gags and succumbs to hysteria. In desperation, he excuses himself from the table.

Mom and Dad discuss their neighbors’ complaints about Dad’s ‘‘lawn jockeys,’’ which are representations of African Americans in servile roles made for Anglo-American consumption. The neighbors want them removed. Dad decides the solution is to paint half of them white.

Sis enters dressed for choir practice, announcing that it is time for her ‘‘choir molestation.’’ Dad cannot remember her name, even though she has her name, ‘‘Kathy,’’ stitched on the back of her gown.

Alone with Dad, Mom confides that she is fearful of her mental health. She has been feeling generally unconnected to all things. Dad consoles her with clichés, but she appears to be satisfied.

Next, Mom is featured alone. She summons a ‘‘Female Voice’’ and converses with the voice. The scene ends.

Scene 2: Lepton
The setting of scene 2 is Son’s room. Dad enters, and Son asks for a bicycle. Dad asks how Son is going to buy it. Son does not know, and Dad tells him he will have to work for it by building a seven-story... » Complete WASP Summary