Left to right: Emilie Dajc, Jaydn Espy, Abigail Wigginton, Brianna Massenburg, Julia Logue, Rachel Nozzarella, Tiffanie Heng.
Photo: Laila Jones | Marlin Chronicle
The Wolves’ by Sarah DeLappe, directed by Trey DelPo, brings to life grief, pregnancy scares and teenage angst.
Curtains open onto a stage littered with soccer balls, duffel bags, backpacks and Gatorade water bottles. This is the first and only location in “The Wolves,” a play by Sarah DeLappe and directed by Trey DelPo, director of the Susan S. Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center, performed Oct. 2 to 5.
The play runs for an hour and a half without an intermission. The entire drama takes place directly before and after games that the Wolves, a Girls Indoor Soccer team, play. Because of this structure, the play is dialogue-heavy and does not have a conventional plot.
“It was definitely different. You had to listen a lot more,” Dr. Sara Ryan, assistant professor of English, said. She said she liked the dialogue-heavy nature of the play and that it was centered around one location.
There were 10 actors involved in the play, and six of them were freshmen, which is more than usual for a play at Wesleyan.
“I fell in love with the story of the Wolves. It’s so complex but it looks so simple,” Rachel Nozzarella, a freshman, said. She played #2, a jersey number, which was how most of the cast was identified. She was proudest of crying onstage in the last scene, and said she had always appreciated her skill of “being able to convey grief.”
Nozzarella and all of the other actors did a good job at the showing on Saturday. Especially compelling performances were Tiffanie Heng, who played #00; Leah Hilliard, who played #25; and Abigail Wigginton, who played #13, although all performed well.
Dr. Sally Shedd, Batten professor of Theatre and Gender, Women and Sexuality studies, played Soccer Mom. She said she enjoyed acting and that this cast grounded her.
“I don’t have a lot of time to act because my job is to direct here,” Shedd said, who thought the last time she acted was in “Legally Blonde” about six years ago. She said she thought acting made her a better director and that she liked to learn from other directors.
“[DelPo] knows when to have fun and when to get down to business,” Shedd said. She said he was also good at knowing what good motivational food was, and brought in food when there was going to be a late night.
This performance was DelPo’s first at Virginia Wesleyan since he was a student here. He was directing one this year because there were “so many students who wanted” to participate in theater and the two performances a year (one by Travis Malone and one by Shedd) no longer met student demand. This will be a permanent arrangement going forward, great news for theater fans at Virginia Wesleyan.
“We’re all very excited with the direction this theater is going,” DelPo said, referring to himself and the theater faculty. DelPo acquitted himself well, being well liked by his cast.
The show itself was funny and deathly serious at intervals. There were some funny scenes, like when #13, played by Abigail Wigginton, argued that killing hundreds of thousands of people isn’t (morally) complicated, #7, Jadyn Espy, responds with “I mean, it is probably pretty challenging.” Another moment was #46, Gabie Isenburg, saying “Yeah, I have lots of secs” in response to being asked if she had a sec, or #13 telling #11, Julia Logue: “You have got a hot mom. That’s the cards you were dealt.”
Despite that, the show was complex and knew when to be serious. It confronted themes of death, both of parents and of teammates, competition between teammates and sexual assault.
“There’s so many other things to know about / why waste time knowing about yourself?,” Brianna Massenburg as #8 asks.
“I really liked how it highlighted the importance of teams and found families,” DelPo said about the play. He added that he liked that it was a show that they could have so many freshmen and young students in.
“The thing that I’m happiest about is the team that all of the women onstage became,” DelPo said. He said that if he had more time, he would work on the actor’s soccer skills. He said that actors were not cast on their ability to play soccer, a decision that definitely showed.
The show had a few issues. For one, the actors all wearing the same jersey and sweatshirt, which while accurate for a soccer team, complicates character identification. Since it can be difficult for viewers sitting far away to see faces, outfits often help aid in distinction. The main difference in the costuming was the jersey number, but actors do not often have their backs to the audience.
Additionally, the strict adherence to the location, while an interesting writing restriction, has some flaws in plot continuity. The plot that develops in the latter half of the show begins when #14, played by Emilie Dajc, is killed in a car accident. This moment is not shown, and this begins with a few players gathering and wondering if six players would show up, so they wouldn’t have to forfeit. However, an anxiety dream by #00 directly precedes this moment, which, although performed very well, also departed from the rules. I originally thought that she had committed suicide, and that’s why the players might have stayed home.
The show being so dialogue-heavy is also difficult when the words become hard to understand, which happens especially near the beginning when many players are having concurrent conversations.
Despite these minor flaws, it was a touching play that was performed well. The camaraderie between the people involved in the play was especially strong according to DelPo and Shedd. The performance was admirable and a good showing for DelPo’s first play at Virginia Wesleyan. The theater community looks forward to many more.
Shedd is directing the next play, “The Thanksgiving Play,” in November. Performances will be Nov. 14 to 16. All performances are free for students, staff, faculty and alumni.
By: Victoria Haneline
vfhaneline1@vwu.edu
