The FSU School of Theatre’s fall show lineup has been an interesting one! While it’s included the early ’60s camp of Once Upon a Mattress and the silliness of the children’s show Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed, perhaps the most intense show of the season comes from the play The Wolves, which Sarah DeLappe wrote.
I’m currently a tech team member for FSU Theatre’s production of The Wolves and have had the pleasure of watching the play in all its glory. Production begins on Nov. 1 and will run through Nov. 10. Directed by Melissa Tarduno, a graduate student at FSU, it features a group of 10 students from the FSU School of Theatre, ranging from freshmen to seniors. They comprise a strong ensemble of women, breathing life and personality into their characters!
The Wolves tells the story of an all-girl soccer team. It tactfully explores the contradictions of girlhood and the internal and external conflicts that can be faced on the soccer field. It’s not the story of an unstoppable group of girl bosses but rather the story of teenage girls who hurt each other, make mistakes, and still come together despite hardships.
Each character in The Wolves is marked not by their name but by their jersey number. Each scene takes place during practice, and all of the characters’ interactions exist only within the context of the sport they’ve played together all their lives.
The all-female ensemble had the task of performing as their characters and also learning how to play soccer. Rather than pretending, they’re truly playing the sport! There are a lot of simultaneous actions and conversations that happen, which leads to authentic reactions from the cast.
The director, Tarduno, connects the action of soccer to the action of the play, where the sport exists not in a vacuum but as a manifestation of the inner conflict each character is facing.
The Wolves was published in 2016, the same year that United States Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) players filed their wage discrimination action against the U.S. Soccer Federation. The case wasn’t settled until 2022, when the women were awarded a $24 million pay settlement.
The USWNT is often regarded as the greatest program in soccer history, yet the pay of the women’s team is disproportionate to that of the men’s team. We’ve seen a shift in recent years, especially following their decision to take to the national stage to protest their unfair pay. This relevance has given them a cultural significance that transcends the sports world. The Wolves brings the conversation about women in sports to the stage and recontextualizes it.
In the play, the characters aren’t women with the resources to change their circumstances but girls forced to operate within their confines. They have an absent coach who gives very little care to their team, forcing them to lead themselves and take agency in their success. But outside of these broader cultural references, the play gets into the minutiae of being a teenage girl.
Each character is flawed, both the victims and perpetrators of hurt. From the ostracization of one character to the falling out of others, each girl has something that weighs them down and impacts how they interact with each other and the game they love. Yet, their challenges are not unique to their age!
It’s easy for every audience member who watches The Wolves to see a piece of themselves in these characters. These experiences transcend age and speak to much deeper desires and feelings we all have.
The end of the play comes with a twist that brings the tension-filled team back together and forces the characters to reckon with the fallout of an intense event. A moment of tragedy brings them together, and they cherish not only soccer but also how it brought each of them to each other.
Be sure to get your tickets and see this beautiful tale of soccer, friendship, and girlhood, which is opening this weekend in the FSU Lab Theatre!
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