'The Wolves' to be presented by Stage and Screen students, faculty
“The Wolves,” a slice-of-life play centering around a teenage girls’ soccer team, will be presented Thursday, Feb. 28, through Sunday, March 3, by Western Carolina University’s School of Stage and Screen.
Shows are set for 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28 and on Friday, March 1, and Saturday, March 2, with a concluding performance scheduled for 3 p.m. March 3. The performances will be held in the Josephina Niggli Studio Theatre at the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center.
Written by Sarah DeLappe, the play premiered in New York in September 2016 and focuses
on the experiences of the nine girls who make up the team – the Wolves – through the
setting of their weekly Saturday morning pregame soccer warm-ups. The girls take physical
and personal shots for and against one another, exploring what it means to be a young
woman in the modern world and forging a camaraderie that lasts long after the game
is over.
“The Wolves” was a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. After its premiere, Ben Brantley wrote in a review for The New York Times: “The scary, exhilarating brightness of raw adolescence emanates from every scene of this uncannily assured first play by Sarah DeLappe, and at times your instinct is to shade your eyes.”
WCU students playing the roles of the nine soccer team members are Ariana Haylock, Rachel Sabo-Hedges, Sara Lucas, Micah Patt, Kate McCosh, Anna Broadway, Amanda Dowswell, Jenna Gilmer and Breanna Smith. Ashlee Wasmund, director of WCU’s programs in musical theatre and dance, plays the role of a soccer mom. The play is being directed by Dustin Whitehead, assistant professor and director of WCU’s undergraduate program in acting, and student Alaina Newell is serving as assistant director.
The show is part of the School of Stage and Screen’s Mainstage theatre season and is recommended for age 16 and up.
Tickets are $20 for adults; $15 for seniors, and WCU faculty and staff; and $10 for students. To purchase tickets, visit the box office of the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center or call the box office at 828-227-2479.
