Review Roundup: WOLF PLAY at MCC

MCC Theater is now presenting Soho Rep's Wolf Play, in collaboration with Ma-Yi Theater Company. Wolf Play, by Hansol Jung (Wild Goose Dreams) and directed by Dustin Wills (Wolf Play, Soho Rep), began previews on January 27, 2023, and will run through March 19, 2023 at MCC Theater's Susan & Ronald Frankel Theater (511 W 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019).

When an off-the-record adoption goes awry, Jeenu's new parents learn just how far a wolf will go to defend its pack. Hansol Jung's Wolf Play is directed by Dustin Wills with exuberant imagination as MCC brings the critically acclaimed sold out Soho Rep production back to the stage.

The cast of Wolf Play includes Christopher Bannow (Oklahoma!) as "Peter," Esco Jouléy (Interstate) as "Ash," Brian Quijada (Oedipus El Rey) as "Ryan," Nicole Villamil (Network) as "Robin," and Mitchell Winter (Frontieres Sans Frontieres) as "Wolf."

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Jackson McHenry, Vulture: Wolf Play might be unbearable if not for imaginative gestures like that one - but really, it's about how people cope with unbearable situations by using their imagination. This production grips you with both its facts and its fictions. Jung's play is based on grim real-life experiences; in the MCC lobby after the play, you'll see poster boards with information about secondhand adoptions. The fantastical touch of the puppet and the Wolf, who maintains a relationship with the audience through running asides about the characters, lightens the experience with humor (at one point, the Wolf pauses the action to do some terrible stand-up comedy), pulling you in emotionally so the punches land when your guard is down - it's fitting for a play full of boxing metaphors.

Elysa Gardner, New York Sun: A year ago this month, I caught the New York premiere of a gorgeous, devastating play narrated by a wolf - that is, a young adult actor portraying a 6-year-old child who has, for practical reasons, assumed the identity of a wolf. In "Wolf Play" - being produced again by Soho Rep in collaboration with Ma-Yi Theater Company, this time presented by MCC Theater - the fourth wall comes down hard and fast, the moment this lupine figure leaps out without warning and utters the first line: "What if I said I am not what you think you see."

Amelia Merrill, New York Theatre Guide: In Wolf Play, the greatest commodity is violence, a tool of communication that leaves Jeenu confused: When is it okay to hit and be hit? The violence of the state, its flawed adoption system and hidden fallout, manifests through Ash and Ryan's boxing, choreographed by fight director Hannah "Rock" Roccisano. Wolf and the audience, meanwhile, take refuge in You-Shin Chen's scenic design, a cluttered chaos of play objects. In this bubble, a child's imagination both comforts and charms, concealing the sharp realities that pierce the plush surroundings.

Amanda Marie Miller, Theatrely: At the core of the show is an exemplary and complex discussion of family, parenting, and gender, yet the themes are more approachable than ever. Have you ever considered suspense and wonder in the context of the pink Power Ranger? Or that "affidavit" might sound like "after David" to a child? Wolf Play has an inordinate and exciting ability to confront the audience with themes they weren't quite expecting to reckon with. At least not when ironic wolf-print graphic tees are involved.

Photo credit: Julieta Cervantes