A Review of Sarah DeLappe's "The Wolves"

Team picture of The Wolves (top row from left to right: Emily Estep, Meghan Hutchins, Elena Matchen, Maggie Rucki
and Jaymi Horn) (bottom row from left to right: Darby Beckwith, Haley Ward, Logan Hill and Lauren Steffanni)

Wow. This is about all I can say after seeing this amazing cast perform in Sarah DeLappe's "The Wolves." All I knew about the production going in was it was about a girl's soccer team and the scenes are them interacting during warm ups. What I didn't know was how deep and touching the show would be. This is a piece worth seeing again and again. If you're anything like me you'll laugh at the social commentary at the beginning and then cry during the rest of the performance. This review will contain spoilers, so if you didn't see "The Wolves," and do not wish to know what happened in the play, then here would be a good place to stop reading.

You started to gain a feeling for the show as soon as you walked into the Stambaugh Studio Theatre. Under the scenic design by Jordan Kimes, the entire black box theatre was transformed into an indoor soccer field complete with turf and stark white walls with red and blue stripes aged perfectly to look as if people had been playing in this space for a while. Fifteen minutes prior to the kickoff of the show (soccer pun), sounds by the Production Manager/Sound Designer, Kathleen E. DeVault, began to play. It started off very eerie and then transformed into sounds of the inside of an indoor soccer field. I am very familiar with the sounds, smells and appearance of indoor soccer fields since I played soccer from kindergarten until I started high school, and even after I stopped playing I still went and supported my twin brother who fell in love with the game.

After a quick speech by the Operations Manager of the Freed Center, Dylan Wood, the show was off. A wonderful group of ladies quickly filled the stage and we were instantly immersed into their world. Haley Ward was right about having to pick and choose which conversations to listen to. I saw the play three times and I picked up on completely different conversations between characters which informed relationships I saw later in the play between characters. The girls start the play by discussing the ethics behind the death penalty. Throughout the first half of the show the girls also casually tackle topics like menstruation, religion, parties, crushes, the team dynamic, immigration, mental health, feminism, etc.

The cast did an amazing job of portraying their characters. Meghan Hutchins and Emily Estep did an excellent job portraying two "bad girls" with good hearts. Haley Ward commanded attention as the team captain who falls in love with the new girl at school, Louise. Jaymi Horn was a joy to watch as the skinny girl who dealt with a lot of concussions and an overprotective and religious mother. Elena Matchen gave a very heartfelt and honest portrayal of the socially conscious girl with overbearing psychologist parents. Logan Hill shined as the quirky new girl who struggled to fit in at first because of her and her mom traveling the world for her mom's job as a "travel writer." Darby Beckwith gave an electric performance as the soccer team's "class clown" character with a huge personality. Maggie Rucki touchingly executed playing a goalie with social anxiety disorder. Lauren Steffanni left nothing on the table in her portrayal of a bubbly girl who lost her mother to cancer. Katie Shiveley poignantly made her mark on the audience with her depiction of the soccer mom.

Why did I chose to use the word poignant when describing Shiveley's character? Just wait one second and you'll find out. For the purposes of helping the reader understand what is going on I am going to use the actress' name instead of the character's name, as all of the characters have their numbers as their names. After a few scenes of lighthearted interaction between the girls, we learn the team lost to a team they shouldn't have. Captain Ward is not very happy about this and pushes the girls extra hard at the next practice. During this practice it's revealed Hutchins and Estep are going to Hutchins' father's ski house for Hutchins' birthday. Joining them will be Hutchins' college boyfriend and his friend, so Estep will have someone to hang out with. The next scene we learn Hutchins broke her leg while skiing and tried to lie about it and say it happened in the last game. This caused Estep and Hutchins to get into a huge fight because Estep believed Hutchins should've taken care of herself because colleges are starting to come look at the girls for collegiate soccer. I know a thing or two about trying to get on a college soccer team because of my twin brother, and let me tell you: the stress these girls were under was not exaggerated. The scene blacks out in the middle of the argument.

Following this blackout, we get a glimpse of the life of Rucki's character. We see Rucki pushing herself to an extreme while running drills by herself. You could hear her sob in between the heavy breathing from the drills. Rucki ends up heaved over on the floor screaming and crying before the lights go out again. What the heck is going on? This is exactly what I was asking myself at this point.

Just after asking myself this question, a light slowly turned on and grew brighter up above and troubling music started to play. Slowly, one by one we see the girls entering the soccer field obviously distraught over something which had just recently happened. Due to DeLappe's conscious decision to name all the players with their numbers, the audience is left trying to figure out who isn't showing up. We eventually learn Estep's character died from a car accident which took place while she was out for a morning run at 6 a.m. The story ends with the team members, including injured Hutchins, meeting up on the field before the game after Estep's death. No one quite knows how to handle this and the audience was shown a raw look into how young girls deal with loss. This is where Shiveley enters the scene as Estep's soccer mom. She delivers an extensive heart-wrenching monologue to the team about how she raised her daughter to try and be the best she could be, how she wants the team to do great and how she's watched all the girls grow up through going to so many soccer practices, games, etc. During this monologue, Shiveley expertly incorporated frantic moments to illustrate how mothers who lose their children often don't know how to go on/act normal anymore. Shiveley rushes out in a panicked manner, but promises to be back soon.

The whistle is blown to let the players know the game is about to start. Hutchins wishes the team good luck and gets ready to go before Ward stops her and asks if she wants to be a part of the team cheer before the game starts. At this moment the girls finally huddle up and hold each other and grieve their friend's death while going around the huddle and yell-crying, "We are the Wolves!" It was a truly touching and powerful moment and it made me tear up. I eventually went beyond tearing up to actually sobbing when Shiveley reenters right before the lights go out to bring the team orange slices and then lowers her head after seeing the team and starts to cry.

I tried my best to summarize this beautiful piece of theatre, but I don't think I have the right words to describe how brilliant this production was. It was an emotional roller coaster ride which had me laughing at the witty, satiric humor at the beginning and then crying like a baby at the end. It was truly astonishing how DeLappe told such an emotionally diverse story with a one act play lasting around an hour and a half. I just want to congratulate everyone involved with the production on a spectacular run. If you want to see Elena Matchen, Jaymi Horn, Haley Ward and Logan Hill shed the soccer jerseys in order to travel back to biblical times, be sure to check out Jesus Christ Superstar in April!