The Howland Company and Crow’s Theatre are bringing 2017 Pulitzer Prize finalist for drama, The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe, to Toronto.
Howland Company founding member Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster directs this story about a girls indoor soccer team, which captures adolescence in all its beauty and paints a portrait of nuanced young women navigating the game, their lives, and a growing understanding of a complicated world.
Two other company members are in the cast, Ruth Goodwin and Hallie Seline, who were most recently seen in Punk Rock. They will be joined by Rachel Cairns (Tarragon’s Bunny), Aisha Evelyna (short film Accidentals), Annelise Hawrylak (Dauntless City Theatre’s Twelfth Night), Ula Jurecka (Canadian Rep Theatre’s Dreams), Brittany Kay (Harold Green Jewish Theatre’s Mikveh), Heath V. Salazar (Storefront Theatre’s Chasse-Galerie), and Amaka Umeh (Solar Stage’s Munsch Mash).
The Wolves will have sound designed by Deanna H. Choi (Factory Theatre’s The Monument) and set and lighting designed by Jareth Li (Factory & Thousand Island Playhouse’s Prairie Nurse).
“The scary, exhilarating brightness of raw adolescence emanates from every scene of The Wolves, this uncannily assured first play by Sarah DeLappe, and at times your instinct is to shade your eyes.” – Ben Brantley, The New York Times
On at Crow’s Theatre from October 8 to 27, 2018. For tickets or more information, click here.
Fun facts! The cast and creative team answer the question:
“What sports failures did you have as a child that still keep you up at night?”
Rachel Cairns
#25
In one of my first races as a swimmer I made the rookie move of putting my goggles over my swim cap. The force of my dive into the pool undid the suction, filling the goggles with water. I swam into the side of the pool and thought the race was over when I still had half a length to go. A metaphorical lesson to keep going and see things clearly.
Aisha Evelyna
#07
When I was six of seven, we were out at recess playing soccer on a wet field. I remember going to kick the ball, missing, and landing in a FULL SPILT. The pain! Needless to say, after that I never pursued taking gymnastics when I had the opportunity. The very thought of doing the splits now makes me physically nauseous.
Ruth Goodwin
#11
I peed my pants at tennis camp one time. I don’t want to talk about it.
Annelise Hawrylak
#02
I think I must have been about seven when I was playing baseball in a friend’s backyard... I was on third and I had the ball, and I knew I could use it to tag the girl running from first to second out, so I threw it at her legs like it was a dodgeball. The bruise was pretty killer, and we never played baseball again. I still feel bad about that. And I still don’t understand the rules of baseball.
Ula Jurecka
#46
The soccer ball was shooting towards me like a cannonball. Recognizing my opportunity to shine, I went for the header. Unfortunately I miscalculated and the ball hit me in the face. Being the firecracker that I was, I didn’t stop playing. Pushing through the pain, I got control of the ball. I had a breakaway and was flying full-speed towards the net… I realized too late that getting a ball to the face may have disoriented me a bit—to my horror, I shot on my own net.
Brittany Kay
#14
I wanted to kick it with the boys at recess while they played football. I was so hyped to be included, but didn’t know any of the rules. Thought I’d coast by just outside of the action. When my name was called, I thought it was a signal to run towards the ball, but it was actually a sign to get out of the way as the football had been punted directly into my face. Bloody nose. Embarrassment. I never joined the boys again.
Heath V. Salazar
#13
After my first soccer practice at the age of twelve, my coach told me there was no way I could get any worse. Being the tenacious child I was and hoping fervently that my Colombian blood would come to my rescue, I stuck around for a full year to prove him wrong. Unfortunately, my league was all games and no practices, so I spent every Saturday morning kicking the ball when it was supposed to stay still, staring blankly when it was time to start a play, and ultimately being the worst player in my entire league.
Hallie Seline
#08
In my first rugby game, I had been assigned to “wing” and was told “that’s where the small fast girls go... you most likely won’t have to tackle as much.” Unfortunately, the first team we played had a wing whose one thigh was the size of my two thighs, and she was coming right for me. This was the moment of truth. My first rugby tackle ever! I prepared my stance and went after her as I had been coached. The next thing I knew I was clinging for dear life around her as she dragged me ten yards in the mud all the way to score a try. As their team celebrated, I just lay there, ineffectual in the mud, and thought, “Well... I tried?”
Amaka Umeh
#00
I so rarely made the teams that I didn’t have enough of an athletic career to make such monumental mistakes as would warrant several sleepless nights. I did, however, manage to secure a spot on our ninth-grade basketball team. What my position was, I haven’t the slightest idea now, but I do remember that my jersey number was 11. I tried really hard to be a valuable asset to the team, but one time I scored a point on our own basket during an away game. My bad, Mustangs!!! Thanks for giving me a chance!
Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
Director
Once, at a junior high school track and field meet, I stripped down to my running clothes before my race, and then got cold and put my jacket, tear-away pants, and baseball hat back on, FORGOT ABOUT IT, and went to the starting position. I realized halfway down the track when my hat flew off and STRIPPED MY GEAR OFF MID RUN, leaving it all over the track. I did not win.
Deanna Choi
Sound Designer
I used to figure skate competitively until age eleven, when I broke my wrist. My mother had me choose between skating and playing violin, so I chose the latter. Even though I haven’t skated in over a decade, I still get nightmares when I’m stressed, where I have to compete with a skating routine that I don’t know, to music I’ve never heard before. In the dream, I usually have several axels programmed, which I had never successfully landed in competition in real life.
Jareth Li
Set and Lighting Designer
I never quite learned how to swim, despite growing up surrounded by the ocean. Never got that badge from swimming class.
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