The Wolves began with one of the girls warming up for soccer. As the soccer player #13 (Kristie Kriaris-Tsotras) warmed up, so too did the audience. The Wolves is about a group of girls on an indoor soccer team together, and explores what it’s like to be part of a team, and to be a teenage girl surviving amongst her peers. Written by Sarah Delappe, The Wolves delicately balances the exploration of how young women interact, and what it means to part of something bigger than oneself.
The set was clean and minimalist, with artificial turf across the whole stage, designed by Tom Vulcan. The bright lighting (also designed by Tom Vulcan) neatly established the stage as an indoor soccer field. The stage was well established, unmistakably, as a place for the soccer team to mingle, play, and be The Wolves.
The choreographed introduction on the show was well synced and impressive. The entire ensemble warmed up together, and powerfully set the expectation of how the soccer team worked together and moved as one across the stage. Throughout the show there were moments where the entire ensemble warmed up, and the physicality of the movements adds richly to the identity of the girls in the show. They are there as a group, moving together.
The complex group dynamics were established early into the play. There was consistently overlapping dialogue, that was conducted with an impressive amount of skill. The overlapping dialogue felt authentic to the experience of teenage girls. It meant that the audience always missed a little bit of context or conversation, adding to the feeling of being a teenage girl, never quite knowing what was going on, always slightly disoriented. This also effective built the tension between the characters, as they gossiped and bullied each other.
The different members of the soccer team discuss their lives, politics and hint at the complexity of socioeconomic differences between the team members. These topics of discussion lead naturally to awkwardness, both genuine and manufactured. The tension built and developed as the interpersonal conflict and affection escalated amongst the teammates. The ensemble cast expertly weave the complex relationships of the different team members, exhibiting impressive and excellent chemistry.
Ultimately The Wolves asked the audience to ponder if we should care about what others say about us, or what it means to be a team. When I leave a show asking myself questions, I know I’ve been thoughtfully and meaningfully engaged.
To book tickets to The Wolves, please visit https://www.theatreworks.org.au/2026/the-wolves.
