ALEXANDRA ALCALA / ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

“The Wolves,” a play written by  Sarah DeLappe and directed by USD  professor Lisa Berger, will have its opening night on Nov. 21 at USD in the Sacred Heart Hall, Studio Theatre and will continue showing until Nov. 24. “The Wolves” follows nine teenage girls, who are part of an indoor soccer team. As the teammates warm up in sync for their game, a symphony of overlapping dialogue  spills out their concerns, including menstruation, their coach’s wellbeing, eating disorders, sexual pressure and the new girl. By the end of the season and play, amidst the wins and losses and the rivalries and tragedies, they are warriors, tested and ready.

“It’s a one-act,” Director Lisa Berger said. “Meaning that it does not have an intermission. It’s a story about an all female-presenting soccer team in a   suburb  outside of Chicago. It really is a coming-of-age story,  and I would say some of the big things are the loss of innocence [and] how the loss of innocence is a rite of passage for a human being.”

Berger also mentioned that the importance of a collective is clearly the central point of the performance. The play tells the story of how the soccer team comes to realize that teamwork not only has great benefits, but it is  also  a  necessity  to overcome personal challenges. The production is immensely driven by the dialogue and the storytelling; the language used for certain scenes is what makes them stand out to the public.

“It is a character driven language play, about how people interact and process and relate to the world and the events around them,” Jacob Bruce, operations manager of the theater department, said. “The show is simply about people.”

The coordinators of the play mentioned that the storyline is intended to  show  the changes  and challenges one has to overcome in everyday life. In some ways, the play can be relatable to the audience and aims to remind them of things they might have also experienced and struggled with. Because of the nature of the play, it is disclaimed that the storyline contains heavy topics. USD sophomore and actress, Cat Nickoli explained the hardships her character undergoes. 

“In ‘The Wolves’ I play #46,”  Nickoli said. “#46 is the new girl in the team. The timeline of the play  centers around when she enters the team. My  character basically  is  someone that does not understand white suburban culture and how out of place she is. She really represents the experience  of   being  in   highschool as a new student and the situation of being excluded.  The  scenes  of  the  play  are   focused on the  moments the team has  before  having  a match and  the emotions that come with this, as well as how this  affects the team’s dynamics and interactions.”

Due to the way the scenes play out, the dialogue overlaps a lot in  this storyline, meaning  that everyone in one scene is talking at the same time, hence the term “overlapping.” This is common when talking in a big group of  people. Because  of this,  rehearsals were a crucial part in preparation for the performance. Overlapping dialogue is a very difficult  thing to achieve and while this makes line memorization harder, it mimics the feelings and topics of the scenes that Nickoli mentioned in an audible way.

“[Overlapping dialogue] is definitely something that I have never done before,” USD senior Carys Lynch said. “We talk over each other the way you would in a crowded room full of middle school students. It’s been tough to work out the rhythm of it but once we got that done, and what words to accentuate, and just kind of how these things work out together, it became a very beautiful song. It’s so chaotic but you know  exactly what is going on.”

The complexity of the dialogue and the relatable storyline make for an interesting combination. Opening night has been  highly anticipated by the cast, especially because of the unknown response the audience might have. Now, after weeks of preparing, opening night is right around the corner.

“I’m most excited for what the reactions of the audience are going to  be,” Nickoli said. “Because even in the rehearsal room when my character says something,  there’s this reaction  of ‘Oh my god, why did  she say that?’ and I just want to see [how] the way we are portrayed in rehearsals carries out into the audience.”

Even though the performers have the audience in mind for opening night and they are excited to see the audience’s reactions, there’s also something else that makes opening night so special. Lynch mentioned that she is also excited to see how the cast has grown since the start of rehearsals and how  their hard work has made it possible for the play to come together.  

“I’m excited to see how we all hold under the pressure,” Lynch said. “Because it is very difficult learning all these new skills, the new soccer skills and different athletic moves. Also, having lines where you are supposed to go, say and do. I’m very excited to see how we band together and play off of each other.”

This all female-presenting cast will finally be making  their  way  to the  stage to tell the story of nine girls’ lives through experiences that the audience may be able to relate to. “The Wolves” will take place at the Sacred Heart Hall Studio Theater this Thursday, Nov. 21 and will continue through the weekend. With the portrayal of sensitive topics and everyday routines, this production hopes to catch the community’s attention. Everyone’s highlights and expectations for the production are  different,  but  they  all  show  the hard work the theater department has put into this performance.

The cast for ‘The Wolves’ which will feature five performances between the days of Nov. 21 and Nov. 24. Photo courtesy of @usddeptoftheatre/Instagram