UTC Theatre Co. continues their “Outside the Box” programming with The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe October 1 through 6 at Chattanooga School for the Arts & Sciences’ (CSAS) Elementary Gymnasium. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, The Wolves reveals the lives of an American girls’ soccer team with speed, ferocity and humor.
Known only by the numbers on their matching jerseys, the characters in The Wolves reveal their personalities in different ways as we see them prepare for weekly soccer games. Director Gaye Jeffers believes DeLappe created a space for the characters to bring their ideas and challenges into the neutral space of an indoor sports complex. “Ultimately, the show embraces the idea of team and teamwork,” says Jeffers, “But this team reveals their individuality in different ways,” says Jeffers. “From movement and gestures as they practice to the words they choose, they maneuver through competition, affection, and fear…together and as individuals”
Working outside of their usual performance space in the UTC Fine Arts Center, UTC Theatre Co. invites audiences into the CSAS elementary gym for this production. “By performing this play in a gym where American girls gather to share their lives and skills, we hope to add richness and meaning to the audience’s experience,” Steve Ray, Associate Department Head for Performing Arts, says.
Playwright Sarah DeLappe says, “I hope that any audience member who sees this show walks away feeling like these characters deserve ninety minutes of their time and they aren’t so easily cast aside and either treated as airhead idiots or sexual objects or any fill-in-the-blank, stereotypical representation of girls.”
The creative team includes Gaye Jeffers (director), Adam Miecielica (set design), Andrew Haueter (costume design) and Jeff Davis (lighting design and technical direction).
UTC Theatre Co. presents The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe at the CSAS Elementary Gymnasium located at 865 E. 3rd Street, October 1-6 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the UTC Fine Arts Center box office in person or by phone at (423) 425-4269, or by visiting https://www.utc.edu/theatre. Tickets are $12 for general admission, $10 for students (with proof of student ID) and seniors. Seating is limited.
Audiences should be advised that The Wolves contains mature subject matter.