Previews: THE WOLVES at ThinkTank Theatre

Coming to Stageworks on January 13-22 is ThinkTank Theatre's production of The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe. The Obie Award-winning play, and 2017 Pulitzer Prize Finalist follows the experiences of nine teenage girls as they warm up for their Saturday morning soccer games.

Directed by ThinkTank's Producing Artistic Director, Georgia Mallory Guy, The Wolves features Jaime Giangrande-Holcom, Sydney Reddish, Katie Huettel, Haley Janeda, Jessica Beltran, Iman Bijou, Katie Terres, and Noa Friedman. They are joined by ThinkTank's Young Artist's Ensemble (YAE) auditioned high school students Megan Merritt, Adeline Richardson, Sofia Pickford, and Layla Kuck.

Georgia is proud that, excluding her associate producer Ryan Sturm, the entire cast and crew of the production is female. She fell in love with the writing of The Wolves, having seen the production years before.

"It's exactly like young women who are ages 16 or 17. They're not quite women. They're not quite girls anymore. There's this in-between place where they exist. They tell you clearly in the storyline that eight of these nine young women have played soccer with each other since they were very young, and a newcomer comes in. I think anyone of any age can appreciate and remember how they felt being the new person in the room."

The first rehearsal had the cast outside with the soccer ball performing drills and warmups, learning from their assistant director, Calee Gardner, a past soccer player, about all the different positions to ensure authenticity on the stage decorated as a soccer field in a recreational soccer facility.

Layla plays #8, whom she describes as one of the more innocent girls on the soccer team.

"She's kind and understanding. I make her my own by not making her too innocent and adding some maturity to her. I love this play - any play written by a female author with a female perspective because it's an all-girl play. I love how the girls talk about things because it's how I talk as a teenager. I can relate to these conversations. Obviously, we're not actually soccer players, but my reaction to it was just it is a realistic piece of art and something that I wish I saw more of," explained Layla. "I love the realism of it and that it is all females because I think that's really empowering. I think the audience will enjoy the little bits of comedy that are strewn throughout. There are times when you can laugh, but there are times when you can cry and be emotionally vulnerable."

Katie Terres plays the new girl on the team.

"When I first read the script, I fell in love with the play. It is a raw depiction of girls growing up and dealing with real-life problems. It's authentic because it's a real conversation you get to see a lot over the play, and it's pretty cool. My character is socially awkward and hasn't been fully accepted by the Wolfpack, but throughout the play, she tries to chime in, in her best way. Finally, they listened to her, and she got the spot and got to play. She's actually very good and has traveled all over the world playing soccer. She is kind of her own person. She's uniquely herself and constant. That doesn't change just because the girls are mean. She stays true to herself and ends up being accepted for who she is. I love this play because it is something truthful that everyone can relate to."

Haley Janeda, who plays #11, is returning to her favorite production, having performed in a different role in college. She describes #11 as morbid.

"I think she is somewhat your mean girl, but she has a good heart. She's very intelligent. How the playwright describes her is as a budding elitist. While she has some of those (mean girl) traits, she is welcoming and can relate to every single character, which is something I love about her," said Haley. "It's actually one of my all-time favorite plays. It's so rare to find an all-women show, especially young women, which I love. I feel like it's real; it's raw. This is how young girls speak to each other and how they're trying to view the world of politics and relationships, things they're learning about coming of age."

Georgia feels that camaraderie is the overarching theme of The Wolves.

"What is true companionship and camaraderie amongst women? Another thing I love about this play is not every scene is about women on stage talking about how they feel about a guy or what they feel about love. It's about female empowerment, female self-assurance, female acceptance - coming to understand self and self-awareness. With the tough questions that this play brings out - assault, bullying, loss, politics - I hope it helps young women to have conversations with parental figures in their life. I think what it does is bring to light some serious things. Do you know what you would do in a situation if this happened? It can be self-reflective for those who might not have children: do I know what I would do if I were in that situation?

"I love the way the playwright talks about the girls at the very beginning of the play. She says these are nine young, affluent women who are literally in an air dome playing soccer in suburban America. They are literally living in a bubble."

Georgia said the best reaction to the play would be patrons seeing themselves in one or all of the characters on stage.

"I want people to really see themselves in that moment, feeling what those young women on that stage are feeling and thinking, yeah, I felt that too-questioning and being able to ask questions and self-reflect on what was seen. That would be the most rewarding response (to the play)."

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