A Fast-Paced Drama on Indoor Turf

First Stage’s Young Company Cast as ‘The Wolves’ in Renaissance Theaterworks’ production of THE WOLVES by Sarah DeLappe. Photo by Ross Zentner.

​The Field
The soccer field bend into the vertical. There’s an impenetrable wall of turf at the far end of the stage. Scenic Designer Doug Dion delivers a powerful visual image for Renaissance Theaterworeks’ production of The Wolves. Playwright Sarah SeLappe’s relentless, fast-paced comedic coming-of-age drama is brought to Renaissance’s cozy studio theatre stage on South Water Street with heart and passion courtesy of a cast of actors from the First Stage Young Company. It’s a highly concentrated ensemble drama that hits the stage with an irresistible fury of energy. I’d seen a production at Marquette not too long ago. I was quite happy to see it come to the stage again in an all-new production with Renaissance.

First Stage’s Young Company Cast as ‘The Wolves’ in Renaissance Theaterworks’ production of THE WOLVES by Sarah DeLappe. Photo by Ross Zentner.

The Format
It’s contemporary suburban America. An indoor soccer field. A group of nine girls warm-up and prepare for a few games over the course of the quick pulse of 90 minutes without intermission. They are The Wolves. They’re genuinely good. Very competitive. Their lives unfold in a series of pre-game exercises that rush across the AstroTurf that’s been cleverly committed to the stage by Dion. There are...a lot of soccer balls. The ensemble is actually practicing. Nets lower into place to ensure no errant balls fly into the audience.

Ryan Bennett as #7 in Renaissance Theaterworks’ production of THE WOLVES by Sarah DeLappe. Photo by Ross Zentner.

The Pace
“The play should take ninety minutes,” Sara DeLappe. (The page before the Author’s Notes.)

It’s a cast of nine girls. There’s a hell of a lot going on in all of their lives. DeLappe does a remarkable job of weaving them through an impressively diverse amount of stress on and off field. Pacing is absolutely essential to the show otherwise the central insanity of life on the precipice of adulthood is completely lost. Director Elyse Edelman is remarkably precise with the timing and intensity of a drama that goes WELL beyond the standard cliches of a youth sports drama. Action rushes around the stage and through the aisles. Conversations overlap conversations overlapping other conversations. The cast does laps and their voices can be heard echoing into the theatre from the lobby. It’s an engagingly immersive experience.

Madison Jones as #2 & Natalie Ottman as #8 in Renaissance Theaterworks’ production of THE WOLVES by Sarah DeLappe. Photo by Ross Zentner.

The Cast
It’s SO cool that Renaissance was able to work with. A cast entirely composed of kids from First Stage’s Young Company. So often college kids are found playing high school kids on stage and screen. There’s something powerfully visceral about a group of actual teens playing teenagers that feels that much more intense. There are some impressively fierce performances in the ensemble. Alice Rivera is cool and competent as the slightly awkward team captain #25. Ryan Bennett makes quite a dramatic and charismatic statement as the gruff #7...a rough and tumble striker who arguably gets knocked around more than anyone else in the ensemble. Lorelei Wesselowski grants Bennett a bit of gravity in the role of #7’s sidekick at midfield. Reiley Fitzsimmons is quirkily magnetic as the new girl #46. Madison Jones delivers compellingly awkward inner stress to the stage as the unlucky #2. Josie Van Slyke has a crazy energy about her as the witty #13. Maya Thomure lends a sharp sense of perspicacity to the production as the articulate #11. High school freshman Natalie Ottman plays to the energetic strengths of a very childlike #8. Elena Marking shows great strength in the role of the Goalie #0. DeLappe gives the goalie an explosive moment alone onstage...and it could be very, very difficult to make that work, but Marking does a jaw-droopingly impressive job of control dramatic combustion during that moment. The sole adult in the production--Marcella Kearns provides potent punctuation as a soccer mom at the end of the play.

​Renaissance Theaterworks’ production of The Wolves runs through February 11th. For ticket reservations and more, visit Renaissance Theaterworks online.