The Wolves NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (314)
See it if you appreciate a good script that tells a compelling coming-of-age story of the members of a girls soccer team. You know all of these girls.
Don't see it if you don't enjoy stories about teamwork or trying to follow multiple parallel storylines. Read more
See it if Realistic rendering of the multitude of issues facing high school female athletes transitioning to adulthood (sometimes messily)
Don't see it if High school issues in suburbia may not be everyone's cup of tea; attempts to not reveal plot makes for an awkward final scene
See it if Team of blistering adolescence, sharing a common goal: female adulthood. Great ensemble.
Don't see it if Rapid fire dialogue takes some adjustment. Cannot get a ticket.
See it if You want to experience a unique play dealing with the life issues of teenage girls as they train and play high school soccer.Cast is great!
Don't see it if You are disinterested in a play that uses soccer to explore the important life circumstances of high school girls
See it if you enjoy modern plays with young characters; intense drama.
Don't see it if you want something comedic and light or don't have an interest in youth.
See it if you like plays about young women on the verge of adulthood, struggling with feelings about the future- family, men, the world, friendships
Don't see it if you expect an elaborate set; think the play is about the forest; have no interest in teenage angst; can't follow 2 conversations at once Read more
See it if An innovative, brilliantly conceived exploration of community and self discovery. Positive depiction of young women
Don't see it if Altman-like overlapping dialogue bothers you Read more
See it if You wish to see a superb ensemble of young performers in a totally unique and emotionally gripping show.
Don't see it if You are expecting a typical (Rocky-like) sports story.
Critic Reviews (40)
"Playwright Sarah DeLappe is surely enjoying the many incarnations of this play that she created through Playwrights Realm, featuring an ensemble of nine very talented young actors...I must give a shout out to Lizzy Jutila, the goalie, the quiet one, whose pent up emotions run wild in a display of physical explosiveness...Director Lila Neugebauer works magic with the cast and melds beautifully with Ms. DeLappe, making for a wonderful partnership."
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"Sarah DeLappe, the playwright, delivers spectacularly on her debut production...This is where DeLappe’s genius is most apparent: in the details and the differences...It’s captivating watching the teens argue, fight, tease, and commune together, wanting to be a uniformed force, but also striving for personal identity, individualization, acceptance, and accomplishment...The team and the play are the true winners here."
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"The playwright has a terrific ear not just for the rhythms of adolescent girls’ speech, but for the way they dart between conversations...The tight structure of the play sneaks up on you. Its constant undercurrents turn out to convey essential nuggets of information that bring real emotional payoffs...Director Lila Neugebauer gives the piece its strong physicality...Neugebauer also gets uniformly strong work out of the ensemble."
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"The production both shows off the playwright’s terrific ear for the way her adolescent characters speak, and respects her attempt to capture the texture of everyday life in a community of young women...DeLappe could have done more to make the audience feel better acquainted with her characters...If 'The Wolves' requires an unusual degree of attentiveness, it offers something in exchange...the work of DeLappe, a promising new voice in the theater."
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“With the audience seated in bleachers on wooden folding chairs on either side of a wide expanse of AstroTurf, you definitely get the feel of being a fly on the wall listening in to the casual conversation of garrulous teenagers. DeLappe's great strength is in capturing with remarkable accuracy the expressions, rhythms, and inflections of teenage girls, as well as their preoccupations with the trivialities of menstruation, boys, and other essentials of immediate post-pubescence.”
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"Compelling and insightful...The playwright has a great ear for the way girls talk to each other...There are a couple of places where situations feel a little forced...Anyone hankering for a fully plotted play with a clearly delineated conflict and resolution may be disappointed by the unwavering attention on the girls' interactions. But the consistently strong cast under Lila Neugebauer’s sharply focused direction does a splendid job of opening the door on the world of these teenage girls."
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"The author tells a fully realized story over the course of a taut ninety minutes, skillfully dropping information here and there so that her audience can gradually put things together and realize what has purposely not been spelled out in capital letters...Neugebauer does a scalpel-precise job with her young Wolves; DeLappe has a lot going on in the world of her play, and Neugebauer guides our attention so we catch it all...Make sure not to miss it this month."
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"We observe how each player attempts to navigate the difficult shoals between girlhood and womanhood, moving between personal concerns and the world at large...The cast is outstanding, individually and collectively. The ensemble work in their drills is amazing. Director Lila Neugebauer certainly knows how to manage a lot people onstage at once...Although I found the final part of the play a bit manipulative, my overall impression was highly favorable. I look forward to DeLappe’s future work."
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