Sold out show spotlights the struggles of being a teen girl

By Sydney Seidel

Blog Content Contributor

This past weekend, the Department of Theatre and Dance showcased its one-act, all female-lead performance of The Wolves by Sarah DeLappes. The sold-out show ran from Nov. 29 to Dec. 3 in the Patti Strickel Harrison Foundation Studio Theatre.

The 90-minute play follows a girls’ soccer club team and centers around the conversations between the nine players during their weekly Saturday morning pre-game warmups. The dialogue of the play highlights the girl’s thoughts on the struggles of daily life, adolescent questions, tragedy and most of all, sisterhood in suburban America during the 21 century.

While the play does focus around young women, it is not in the traditional sense. The characters are not defined by their relations to, or thoughts about, boys. As absurd as that may seem, it is not a play about sex or sexuality, but simply about the minds of growing girls.

The players, who remain nameless throughout majority of the show, serve as a reminder that even the most inane thoughts and experiences feel so powerful when you’re 17 and just coming to terms with what it means to become an adult.

Elena Heine, who played the team captain and daughter of the old coach (#25), revealed that she hoped the audience would leave the show with a “nostalgic feeling of girlhood and growing up.” In addition, she believed those watching would develop “an understanding of the capacity we have to support, love and connect with each other, especially during traumatic experiences.”

After two months of practicing, the department excelled in producing a show that made the house feel deeply connected to the group of girls who at first seem indistinguishable if not for the sole number on her jersey.

“This play is amazing and one of my favorite plays I have ever been in,” Heine said when discussing her time spent on The Wolves. “It was an all-female lead show which was so unique and empowering. I made many friends and experienced so much. I am so grateful to have been a part of this amazing production.”

The Department of Theatre and Dance welcomes you to join them for their upcoming shows in the new semester. To find out more, visit their box office for more information.