Marnie is a young woman with a passion for working in her garden and an unusual hobby – a collection of various earthworms which she studies and tends with meticulous care. She is fascinated by earthworms, amazing creatures which she notes “can be completely pulled apart and still go on living.” Marnie dreams of owning her own plant nursery and worm farm. At present, however, she works as a stripper in a notorious “gentlemen’s” club in Southern Ontario and shares an apartment with her controlling boyfriend, a casino security guard with the nickname Rosie.

 

Rosie fancies himself as a blackjack dealer in Las Vegas. He has a plan for the two of them to move to Vegas and pursue their ambitions, a plan which hinges on Marnie accepting a new – and particularly degrading – gig in adult entertainment. Despite Rosie’s assurances that “it would only be for a little while,” Marnie has serious reservations. What she also has is a new hope in the form of Gail, a woman from Los Angeles who claims to be scouting prospects for a new reality TV show. Gail has shown a keen interest in Marnie’s life and ambitions. Marnie believes this could be the lucky break of a lifetime, an extraordinary opportunity to move on to a new phase in her life. She keeps her big secret from Rosie but confides in her friend Rae, a fellow exotic dancer, who is immediately skeptical and highly suspicious of Gail’s motives. Could it really be Marnie’s big chance, or merely another form of exploitation...or worse?

 

Essence of the Earthworm poses unflinching questions about the sexual degradation and merchandising of women, a practice widely though tacitly accepted by both sexes as an element of a sexually liberated society, “as long as it’s not a woman I care about.” The play also delves into what drives some women to be complicit in their own exploitation as well as the blatant gender inequity in how patrons vs. performers of “adult entertainment” are regarded by the social order. The character Gail tells of a corporation she worked for that would never hire a woman who had ever worked in a strip club, yet the company without hesitation paid for its male employees to patronize such clubs.

 

At its core, Essence of the Earthworm is also a personal story about the individual search for self-worth and recognizing the value of a person’s true essence – the permanent as contrasted with the accidental element of being.

 

Drama, 4 f, 2 m, approximate running time 90 minutes

 

Comedy, 2 f, 2 m, approximate running time 90 minutes

 

Winner of the Emanuel Fried Award for Outstanding New Play

 

Comedy, 4 f, 4 m, approximate running time 90 minutes