Review: THE WOLVES Is An Intriguing Window Into Middle American Adolescence

Sunday 18th March 2018, 5pm, Old Fitz Theatre

Jessica Arthur (Director) brings Sarah DeLappe's acclaimed THE WOLVES to the intimate space of the Old Fitz Theatre. This relatively new work, which premiered in New York in 2016, captures the complexity of the young women of an indoor soccer team with a fabulous physicality and rapid-fire conversation.

Maya Keys (Set and Costume Design) has fitted out the floor space of the Old Fitz Theatre with bold green astroturf marked with a single white line. A bench provides a space for the players' bags and floor to ceiling netting reminds the audience that this is about an indoor soccer stadium whilst also providing protection from the flying balls. Veronique Benett's lighting design assists with transitions between the scenes which play out before and after games in The Wolves' warm up area and also provides a sense of looking in on the private moments where the girls have the guard down. With the 9 girls not referenced by name, Keys's blue and white uniforms with player numbers on the shorts and the back of the jerseys provides the first differentiation between the characters before their personalities are established.

Whilst the characters are joined by their membership in a weekend indoor soccer team, each sharing a love of the game and the hope that their talents may get spotted by a college scout, DeLappe has chosen to not focus on either the sport or the traditional presentation of teenage girls. Whilst girls are predominantly presented on stages and screens as ditzy, boy crazy and focused on appearance, or alternatively nerdy bookworms, DeLappe shows that these young women can be both as well as being driven to succeed. The dialogue is quick and conversations cross over each other and the girls are seen swapping between trivial topics and more serious social issues as snippets catch their attention. There is a degree of confidence and vulgarity more associated with boys, but with their own feminine twist reminding the audience that these aren't the giggly girlie stereotypes although there are aspects of the athletes that ensure we remember these are still teenage girls.

Coming together on weekends, the girls, not necessarily from the same school, have an intriguing dynamic. Team leader 25 (Benna Harding) is the peace keeper and motivator of the group with a more mature outlook than the rest. New girl 46 (Nikita Waldron) is regarded with caution as an unknown entity and oddity as she is home-schooled and lives with her mother in a Yurt and has trouble gauging the mood of the group, often making inappropriate comments as she tries to make friends. Goal Keeper 00 (Zoe Terakes) has an almost debilitating anxiety disorder that sees her need to purge before each game and barely say a word. Armenian American 14 (Micheelle Ny) is a devoted friend to 7 (Cece Peters), a sexually active, ambitious player until the two have a falling out during a weekend away. Hyperactive 13 (Sarah Rae Anne Meacham) is loud and brash and a little off the wall as she bounces around even more than the warm up sessions require. 11 (Emma Harvie) seems more aware of the outside world and social issues than some of her team mates. 8 (Sofia Nolan) is also prone to a number of inappropriate comments and casual racism whilst presenting as one of the younger, more naive team members. More injury prone 2 (Nadia Zwecker) is more innocent than the rest and has a generally kinder nature as she tries to stop the girls gossiping, potentially having received a deal of it in her past leading to an eating disorder. The girls work together to fight it out against other teams, get noticed by the talent scouts, and support each other through the challenges that they face along the way, ribbing each other and rallying together.

Presented with a perpetual movement as the scenes play out as the girls warm up and train for unseen games, this is a fast-paced production that shows the complexity of the young women. It shows that whilst they do push each other's buttons there are limits to what each considers appropriate comments and conversation as they seek to protect each other. With a range of backgrounds, the girls range intelligence and socio-economic backgrounds and whilst they may not necessarily associate with each other during the week, the barriers come down on the weekends as they share a common goal of being selected for a college team and assumedly a scholarship. Whilst THE WOLVES is an American story, classified as representing American life with an accuracy to earn it a position as finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the American Playwriting Foundation's inaugural Relentless Award and an Obie Award for Ensemble Work, there is a universality about the story making it relatable for Australian audiences.

THE WOLVES

Old Fitz Theatre

14 March - 14 April 2018

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