It’s been said that nobody ever really leaves high school. You may get your diploma and move on in the world, but you carry the same baggage, social skills and scars with you. To see the proof of that, check out The Wolves, which is running through Dec. 30 at the Unicorn Theatre.
The play, a 2017 Pulitzer Prize finalist by Sarah DeLappe, is about a girls’ high school soccer team, and it takes place on a scrap of soccer field where the girls meet each Saturday for their games. During their warm-ups, the young women jabber, gossip and attack each other in between complaints about homework, parents and general teen angst.
The audience doesn’t know the girls by name, only by their jersey numbers. The semi-anonymity fits; any given girl’s conversation swirls in and among those of the other team members, and they are hard to keep track of, so names would be pretty useless, anyway. They are all caught up in their own issues – the concerns of other people don’t matter much, unless it’s an insult or a rumor or a punchline.
The situation is decidedly mundane, but like many teenage experiences, the calm surfaces hide tensions that can (and do) puncture the fragile stability of teenage friendships. Events build, and slowly the girls become aware that even their small soccer world is bigger than their personal opinions and confusions.
The ensemble cast is great – each of the actresses has a moment to showcase her character’s issues without drowning out any of the others. The set is quite small, basically nothing but a rectangle of artificial turf. This physically symbolizes the fact that the girls are closer to each other than they think – or may want to be.
There’s not a lot I can say about the play without giving too much away, because not a lot actually happens until the final act. The point is to watch young adults accidentally start growing up through the reactions and consequences of their interpersonal relationships. It’s a unique play and more powerful than it may sound here. And no matter what your age or gender, watching these young women may strike chords in yourself that you haven’t listened to in a long time.
The Unicorn is at 3828 Main St. in Kansas City, Mo. For tickets, go to www.unicorntheatre.org or call 816-531-7529.