Off-Broadway High School Wrestling Play SPRAWL Returns To The Mat

"Sprawl" follows members of a high school wrestling team grappling with the crippling expectations of their coach and peers, body dysmorphia and eating disorders, and the pressures of early manhood. The play follows rookie wrestler, Matt, joining the team hoping to lose weight. Matt comes face to face with the hardened team captain, Nick and cutthroat Coach Staples, whose desperation for success pushes Matt to the brink. Matt soon discovers the more weight he loses the more he loses himself. In the end, Matt and each member of the team must come to grips with their own definition of masculinity before they are crushed beneath its weight.

"Sprawl" sheds light on an experience seldom depicted in contemporary theatre: high school varsity wresting. "I spent half my life wrestling," says cast member Parker Sack, who portrays team captain, Nick. "Sprawl has been a truly impactful and fulfilling experience for me. The ups and downs of that lifestyle are so beautifully portrayed."

"This play has been haunting me for the past six years." Confesses playwright Michael Ronca, a former high school wrestler himself, "It's incredibly personal to me. I saw how rarely men with eating disorders and body dysmorphia are portrayed in media and I wanted to create something, not just for men, but for anyone who has ever experienced something like this."

This abridged performance of "Sprawl" runs June 30th-July 7th at SoHo Playhouse and is directed by Hannah Berkowitz and stars Michael Kishon, Parker Sack, Christian Clements, Aaron Bryce, Ethan Jones, Kyle Quick, Ryan Murray, Cole Kaplan, and Kevin Gill, also featuring stage direction by Max Mooney and choreography by Caroline Riley and Parker Sack.

For tickets and more information visit SoHo Playhouse online and follow "Sprawl" on Instagram to see behind the scenes photos and stay up to date on the production.