“We are the Wolves”
The Wolves by Sarah Delappe is a cross-section of the lives of a teenage girls soccer team, called the Wolves. We see them only at their pregame warmup each Saturday morning. During warmup, they verbally dissect the world around them discussing subjects like the killing fields of Cambodia, periods, boyfriends, soccer, pregnancy and at least a hundred other topics—all at the same time.
The production directed by Jess Arthur is very well paced with snappy dialogue and due respect given to emotional climaxes within the script. Set design by Maya Keys was simple yet effective, drawing the audience inside of the indoor soccer stadium and giving the players a realistic surface with which to play. Surrounding the stage with netting gave the players the freedom to bring soccer to the space and release the raw energy of grief with abandon.
The cast was refreshingly diverse and had all the strength and equal footing of a strong ensemble. No one player outshined any other. #25, Breanna Harding, was strong and constant as the team’s captain. #13, Sarah Meacham, kept the audience entertained with her constant sexually inappropriate physicality which lent behavioural authenticity to the whole ensemble. #46, Nikita Waldron, was believable as the outsider, awkward and confident as a young homeschooled girl just trying to fit in. #00, Chicka Ikogwe, was a strong silent presence on the stage whose repeated dramatic dashes to the Port-a-loo kept everyone laughing.
The dis-ease I felt about the production was completely due to the script. Although I’m aware that it was nominated for a Pulitzer prize in 2017 and was much awarded besides; I was completely taken out of the play with the arrival of the mother of #14’s mother, played by Renee Lim, in the last minutes of the play. The insertion of a new character so late in the play appeared clumsy and unnecessary. The overt intention was returning the motif of oranges slices back to the stage. The same thing could have been achieved in a different way that wouldn’t have disrupted the play so abruptly.
The capacity audience appeared to completely enjoy themselves, and remained engaged for the entire ninety minutes with no interval. This rendition of the Wolves at Belvoir by Red Line Productions is easy to watch, full of laughs and hopefully pushes a more mature audience to a compassionate place as this team of young women deal energetically with the onslaught of information, emotion and tragedy that life hands them all at once—leaving them alone to make sense of it.
Christina Donoghue, Theatre Now Sydney
The Wolves
Sarah DeLappe
2 Feb – 3 Mar 2019
Tuesday 6.30pm
Wednesday 6.30pm
Thursday 1pm & 7.30pm
Friday 7.30pm
Saturday 2pm & 7.30pm
Sunday 5pm
Venue: Belvoir: Upstairs Thetre
Theatre Company: Belvoir Theatre Company
Duration: N/A
