Department of Theatre Presents: The Wolves

Art by Ash Micheel; University of Arkansas

The Department of Theatre in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences opens the Pulitzer Prize finalist play The Wolves by playwright Sarah DeLappe, Friday, Oct. 29, in the Global Campus Black Box Theatre on the historic Fayetteville Square. The production runs through Nov. 7 and all performances are free and open to the public, but tickets are required and can be reserved online.

The production — directed by faculty member Kate Frank — features an all-female undergraduate cast and chronicles the lives of nine members of a soccer team ("The Wolves") somewhere in suburban America as they prepare for their games. The pack of young women have a lot on their minds and they discuss and dissect everything from Harry Potter to sanitary pads to the Khmer Rouge. 

"I love that the playwright has written so accurately in the lingo of contemporary teenagers. It is a fierce and darkly funny, female-centric play about being an adolescent dealing with all the complexities of life in 21st century America," Frank said.

The cast features many new performers to the university stage, including first-year student Ann Heitman who plays the role of #13 (all characters are delineated by their jersey number).

Heitman echoes Frank's take on the play, saying, "On the outside it is just a bunch of friends who have been playing soccer forever having random conversations, but if you take the time to really look into these girls, you see love, hatred, vulnerability, ignorance, passion and so many other things."

It's not all verbal banter on stage though; the characters are warming up for elite level soccer matches over a series of six Saturdays, and there's a lot of physicality required.

First-year student Sydney Antill, who plays the role of #8, said, "The physical aspects of the show really excite me. We started working with soccer balls at auditions and have improved our skills tremendously since then. I'm excited for us to be able to showcase that achievement. These girls are real and raw."

The review from the original production in the New York Times agrees about the rawness of the characters, writing: "girl power is atomic in 'The Wolves,' the incandescent portrait of an indoor soccer team…The scary, exhilarating brightness of raw adolescence emanates from every scene of this uncannily assured first play by Sarah Delappe."

To maintain updated COVID-19 safety protocols, the production will take place in the Global Campus Black Box Theatre, the performers will be not be masked, but masks will be required for all audience members.

Ticket reservations can be made online at uark.universitytickets.com.

Step by Step Instructions:

• Go to uarkartstickets.com
• Click Category "Theatre"
• Click "Get Tickets" on the show on the date you plan to attend.
• Claim your tickets
• Login/Register to check out. 
• A confirmation email will be sent with your tickets (we can scan from your phone) or you may pick them up at Will Call in the University Theatre Lobby. 

For more information, visit the Department of Theatre online or email theatre@uark.edu for assistance.