Mad as Hops Productions’ fall offering opened Thursday at the Barbara Barrett Theatre in St. John’s with an all-female cast performing American playwright Sarah Delappe’s 2016 “Wolves.”
A finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Srama, Delappe’s play follows a high school soccer team as they prepare for the future, both on and off the field.
The cast likely feels a personal connection to their characters — actors Ananya Antony, Rose Avoir-Dalton, Emma Bartlett, Jayne Batstone, Jane Butler, Rachael Currie, Andrya Duff, Samantha Frew, Aferdita Kukac and Alexandra Ralph are all either currently attending high school, or have recently graduated.
Though young, these women are fiercely talented, and in reading their biographies, it’s obvious that theatre enthusiasts can expect to see them on the stage for years to come.
The show opens on the soccer pitch, as the Wolves warms up for a game. While stretching, the girls chat amongst themselves, their various backgrounds and personalities coming through while discussing the Khmer Rouge, a brutal political regime in Cambodia that killed millions. In discussing the genocide, the team showcases varying opinions about compassion, forgiveness, racism, xenophobia and more.
Other hot-button issues came up throughout the show — including teen pregnancy and abortion, the use of terms like “bitch” and “the R word,” and immigration detention centres.
As the audience soon learns, the nine teammates’ unique viewpoints cause both camaraderie and chaos on the field.
With college soccer scouts attending the matches, tension is at an all-time high, and though playing as a team, each player is hoping to prove their abilities as a stand-out.
This pressure, coupled with the everyday societal stresses placed on young women, creates a somewhat toxic environment for the group, as they squabble and fight.
At times, the bickering is simply innocent teasing, but often it goes too far, escalating to the point of tears.
As the audience soon learns, the nine teammates’ unique viewpoints cause both camaraderie and chaos on the field.
A new teammate — a home-schooled girl who lives in a yurt with her travel writer mother — increases the tension, as she demonstrates immense skill on the pitch, despite being somewhat of a novice player. She attributes her talent to having played soccer all over the world as a way to make friends while visiting places where she doesn’t speak the language.
The new addition doesn’t sit well with one player in particular, a loudmouth firecracker who seems to enjoy inciting riots amongst her teammates.
In spite of the catfights, the girls seem to make a good team on the field, beating their opponents and coming out victorious.
Later in the drama, unforeseen chaos brings intense camaraderie to the group, and the girls learn to share their feelings in healthier ways, coping with tragic circumstances — not only as a team, but as friends.
This isn’t a coming-of-age story as much as it is an exploration of friendship amongst women.
Be forewarned, however — the show is filled with colourful expletives. I probably wouldn’t recommend bringing a nine-year-old, as I did, but a conversation about expletives as emphatic devices turned this entertaining show into an educational opportunity as well.
“The Wolves” closing performance is Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. at the Barbara Barrett Theatre in the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre.
