Wolves have regenerative capabilities. They are able to bring life back into something that once seemed as if it had lost everything. Wolves are necessary to an ecosystem and help nature become whole again, per the handout of “The Wolves” play presented by the Clemson Players and the department of performing arts.
I could not help but sit back in admiration while immersed in the double-sided Bellamy Theatre stage while an all-girl soccer team navigated the breakage and bonding of girlhood through a series of indoor game warmups. Although the play only gave brief glimpses into conversations regarding the hardships and growth a girl experiences as a young adult, the actors embodied all the audience needed to understand.
The depiction of multiple exchanges happening all at once was hard to follow at times, which was exactly the point. On an all-girl soccer team, warming up before a game means either pouring your heart out to your teammates or aimlessly chattering and catching up with one another.
The Clemson Players successfully reproduced a pregame situation with palpable energy. The girls grouped into cliques, some only talking about their surface-level romantic endeavors while others dove into intense trauma.
The conversations were charged with tension, as if the characters could not fully express themselves to one another, but still wanted to maintain an engaging front. The actors represented the awkwardness that comes with not fully knowing the person you are talking to, allowing the audience to soak in the second-hand embarrassment.
While the teammates were seemingly only friends because of their athletic circumstances, the amount of psychological trauma covered throughout the play was vastly in the foreground of the dialogue. Ranging from the topics of eating disorders and abortions, to even overcoming the death of a fellow teammate, the intensity of the warmup discussions rarely subsided, which I found somewhat accurate to how a team behaves in real life before a game.
The constant mentioning of historical wars in other countries was out of place at times; however, the characters made up for this by relating the examples back to their situational context. Since the girls were already going through heavy trauma, bringing up distressing topics was a weight to bear for the audience. However, it still felt realistic to the play, considering how conversations between teammates can easily get off topic.
When certain characters had their own individual scenes, my attention was completely captivated. I was truly sucked into the moment as the stage lighting changed colors and spotlights to make it all about a certain player.
Having the girls not always being friends, but still coming together in the end to support one another through the hardship of their teammate’s passing, left a light on the audience, myself included. The deep meaning of a team falling apart without a root of understanding was able to shine through from the ever-evolving conversations encompassing girlhood, leaving the girls closer than ever with their newfound sense of compassion in the end.
