Wednesday, February 19, 2020
On the Field with "The Wolves" Director Rachel M. Stevens
Pittsburgh in the Round: I don’t believe there was a more viscerally tempestuous and discombobulated time in my young life than when I was fully immersed in team sports. Questionably coordinated and ravaged by hormones, every all-girls team I played on–whether it was my lacrosse team, basketball team, field hockey team, or, of course, soccer team–I was acting out every anxiety, confusion and frustration I experienced as tween and teen through meticulously coordinated drills and furiously paced practices and games.
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This article was really interesting because it allowed us to see a lot of the process a director goes through when preparing for a show which is something I don’t know a lot about. I saw a production of The Wolves in Seattle a couple of years ago and I loved. I had read the play previously so I knew what to expect pretty much. The most interesting thing for me seeing that show was watching all of the audience members react to the show and talk about it in the theatre as they were leaving. The theatre audience in Seattle is a lot of old white people and I think that is similar to what it is in Pittsburgh, but I am not sure. But this show is really not about old white people so it was interesting to see what they were getting out of it. Since this show is being performed by college students I assume it will attract a younger audience, so I would love to see how the audience reacts to this show because it seemed like the reaction I noticed back home was that it was a lot of people very confused about what they just watched and a lot of people learning new things about the younger generations.
Last year I read the show, The Wolves, as an activity in one of my acting classes as my teachers were attempting to select shows for the next season. I honestly fell in love with this script. I have noticed so many theatres picking up on this show as it finished its Broadway run last year. I think that there are so many themes in this play that are so important to bring to an audience, especially highlighting that this is an all-female cast of young women and the female to female relationship that can be so complex at that age. The article describes that the show is a moment to see women as not defined as their sex, but "the spirit" as they are doing something that they are so passionate about. The play uncovers the process of finding a person's individual identity while in the high-stress environment that comes with high school. I really want to see this show!
There is something tender, fierce and remarkable about a group of girls banding together and growing up before each others’ eyes. I bounced around sports clubs and teams as a kid, but I caught snippets and shreds of my life played out before me on the field, reflecting my worries and joys as I played. It shouldn’t be a breakthrough to portray teenage girls on stage with more than one or two dimensions, but unfortunately, seeing realistic teenage girls depicted accurately on stage is an event worth noting. It’s awesome to see the team struggling with actual teenage issues and problems, with the surface level gossip that permeates but also the gritty reality of life that is largely unavoidable, especially in a diverse group. It’s interesting to me how none of the girls are named in the script, so the actors really have only the text of the script to carve out their character. Directing this show must be a beast, since you have to portray the Teenage Experience accurately, while juggling all the different storylines and conversation threads as well (and also, playing soccer passably).
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