Girl Goals - An Unapologetic Glimpse into Teenage Life in DeLappe’s, The Wolves
By Bhavna Patel
November 4, 2024
Actor Amy Ring, who plays the role of jersey #8 in the Geordie Theatre & Imago Theatre Co-Production of The Wolves, written by Sarah DeLappe, understands the novelty of the entire experience. “[Working with] a team full of women on a play about girlhood is very exciting, and sadly, rare,” she said. Ring highlights a crucial point. The underrepresentation of women is reflected both within the theatre industry’s leadership, and behind the scenes. According to the most recent study on gender equity in Canadian theatre, while women account for 50% of the Guild’s membership, they form less than a quarter of the nation’s produced playwrights. Large, professional-scale female cast shows are an uncommon occurrence in theatre, particularly in Montreal and that too, in English.
The imbalance of gender equity in Canadian theatre can have a negative ripple “impact on the variety of work produced, available employment opportunities... and audience experience,” the study further noted. Some would consider DeLappe’s all-female cast choice a political statement in itself. The coming of age storyline about a highly competitive girls’ indoor soccer team is told through the eyes of nine strong characters. "They're an amalgamation of all the young women I've ever known and loved and hated," DeLappe shared in an interview. The characters are normal, all-encompassing females who are athletes and daughters and scholars. The story provides a break from the stereotypical female roles of, say, “the girlfriend.” The personalities of each character are still taking form, as they wonder whether they’re “too old for, like, slumber parties,” any classical archetype that is revealed about them does not last for very long.
Alyssa Angelucci-Wall on a promotional graphic of The Wolves.
The multi-award winning play was a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. “[DeLappe] is incredibly detailed and intentional for each character, word choice and action,” Ring noted. “I’ve been re-reading the play for months and I keep discovering new details I hadn’t previously caught,” she said. Ring describes DeLappe’s unfiltered script as both subtle and layered. Interwoven through the highs and lows of the show is a relatability to the characters’ experiences as they contemplate the “soooo gross” possibility of getting period blood on a soccer ball, or touch on wider themes, like navigating genocides and eating disorders.
The pressures that come with adolescence, both on and off the field, get to be too much at times, which is the case for Quinn Dooley’s character, goalie number #00. Dooley describes #00 as “a bottle that’s been shaken under pressure.” Her part deals with pent up feelings from a series of events that unfold in the story. Eventually, the #00 gets her moment to release all of that energy, and in so few words. It’s a storyline that holds a special place in Dooley’s heart. “I auditioned for [The Wolves] almost ten years ago, back in Toronto, and have been dying to get a chance to do it ever since,” she said. The Wolves embodies the type of script that leaves a lasting impression for its readers.
In between the passes, lunges and drills, the play explores the many experiences that come along with girlhood: friendship, tampons, world politics, and the whole nine yards. As the team warms up for a big game, many of their facets, the good, the bad and the ugly, get revealed. The team is faced with the reality of living in a complex world, one where change, like a death in the family, or a torn ACL, is inevitable. For the girls, trying to find their place within that wavering world is daunting.
Co-directors Jimmy Blais and Krista Jackson with the team of The Wolves.
Krista Jackson, artistic and executive director of Imago Theatre, a feminist theatre company and catalyst for gender-inclusive storytelling, has co-directed the play with Jimmy Blais. The show is being co-produced with Geordie Theatre, a professional theatre company for young audiences, and will run from November 6 to 17, 2024, at the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts. Jackson said one of the main challenges for the play would be orchestrating the moves and the symphony of voices for the audience. “It is an ensemble show and everyone is bringing their own perspective to the storytelling,” she said. The interplay of these character relationships and their dynamics is at the center of the show.
The entire rehearsal process has been an amazing one for Ring. “Both [Krista and Jimmy] do so much for young people and women respectively. They put on such great shows, and to be in this one especially, feels like a fantastic gift,” she said.
The Guild’s study found a direct correlation between having women artistic directors and playwrights in theatre, to making room for women directors and roles for women in the industry. The study concluded “that increasing women’s representation in one area will have a positive effect on the others." While there’s still a long way to go in regards to gender equity in Quebec theatre, featuring The Wolves production in Montreal, in a way, is helping to bridge the gender gap. And hopefully there will be more such productions to come.
This is not what’s top of mind for the Wolves on stage, however, who really just want to score a bunch of goals. Through the unfolding of the play, the characters, who undergo life-changing events, grow and transform through their journey, and they do it all with unapologetic grit, courage and determination.
The Wolves
By Geordie Theatre & Imago Theatre
November 6 - 17, 2024
At The Segal Centre