PLEASE NOTE EVEN IF THE INITIALS ARE THE SAME, THEY ARE DIFFERENT AUTHORS - JUST WITH THE SAME INITIALS...
"Sometimes you get to see a show that punches you straight in the gut. But, rarely is it about the adolescent experience. A few scripts I read last year dug their nails in hard and this was one of them. We underestimate how important the stories of young women are constantly - hung up on the sensitivities of what their bodies will go thru and less about the capabilities of their minds. Of their vast emotional intelligence. Watching this ensemble of fierce female athletes carry the weight of the world on their shoulders from this little indoor soccer dome in who-knows-where America solidified that. New, groundbreaking theatre is alive and well in Phoenix...Incredible job, ladies!!" - FD
“My makeup was wrecked by the end of the show.” - LAM
:Friends, if you haven’t seen Sarah Schalick, Shannon Phelps, and Jodie Weiss absolutely kill it in THE WOLVES at Stray Cat Theatre yet, what are you even doing?...GO." - ms
"Freakin' cool cool cool play! So glad I caught it!" - HC
"Seriously beautiful ensemble work. I absolutely loved this show. Congrats to all involved." - SM
"An excellent ensemble, so ably directed by Heather Lee Harper!" - JM
"Exceptional acting. Tight direction. Another great production from Stray Cat Theatre." - MKS
"GO SEE GO SEE GO SEE GO SEE GO SEE
I MEAN IT IS SO GOOD
GO SEE NOW!" - SM
"Ok so this one got me in a way I wasn’t expecting. Like holy shit. Jillian Walker and Shannon Phelps and cast blew me away." - RA
"This show was really entertaining. It was different. It was so very funny. It broke my heart. These ladies and this team say goodbye tonight. You should go see them." - NJ
"It’s fucking ridiculously good for a PG-13 show. Haha." - MS
"I saw the latest play from Stray Cat Theatre tonight: The Wolves and was profoundly moved. The feelings unexpectedly began to stir before the performance even started and I sat surrounded by a mix of people I knew from my more active days onstage, those I have started to see in the years since, and those I didn't know at all all excitedly hugging each other and briefly sharing their connections and memories.
I have found in recent years that I have an increasingly difficult time focusing when there are a lot of conversations around me, but in those pre-show moments I didn't need to perceive what was being said. The emotion was enough.
The show itself relishes exploring a similar cacophony of sound so it took me a bit of extra effort to really focus in on the language at the start...but once I was finally in tune with this extraordinary young cast, I was locked in. Heather Lee Harper has expertly-crafted 90 minutes of beautifully-charged slice-of-life storytelling and I was certainly not prepared for the closing scenes in the best possible way.
Go see it before it closes this weekend if you are able." - TS
"Yes, yes, yes, Stray Cat Theatre! The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe is so good!!!! Wonderfully directed by Heather Lee Harper with an ensemble of amazing women who put their hearts and souls into every moment of this 90 minute production." - KM
"Friends, please please PLEASE go see The Wolves at Stray Cat Theatre!! It’s just incredible. My mind is still abuzz thinking about it and I know it’s one that’s going to stick with me for a while." - KH
"I came prepared but far from ready. Way to go y’all. Stray Cat Theatre
Seriously, go see it while you still can.
Warning: real language." - ZB
"The Wolves @ Stray Cat. Every actress in their role and ensemble. I wouldn't want to be on the other team." - DL
"Very well done, from setting , to great , very well paced acting by “The Wolves!”- kudos to the production team!" - goldstar
"There's a lot of great theatre in Phoenix this weekend, I can think of three great shows opening... But The Wolves is CLOSING this weekend, go see @straycattheatre 's finest work in years.
Heather Lee Harper's direction is stellar and the cast is so skilled I was dumbstruck. It's one thing to cast that well, it's another thing entirely to see a cast so perfectly balance and support each other. I've never been able to hear so many conversations simultaneously. You won't regret a moment of this play. GO SEE!" - DL
"The Wolves! Stray Cat Theatre. Excellent production. Those young women blew me away. Fine direction, wonderful acting - thanks Ron May - fabulous choice. And now I'm going to try to get over my depression for not being able to run a soccer drill, do lines impeccably, and not get winded!!" - JR
"Alright Social Media friends... You got me out to see it. And, dang you Wolves for wettin my face all up. Impressively directed and beautifully acted. I'm happy I didn't miss it!" - AC
"I saw the show last Friday and was impressed how each actress made each part an individual, even if they had little dialogue. Very quickly the audience got a sense of what each girl was about and from where they were coming, making the conclusion honestly suspenseful as we were waiting to see [redacted but you can find out if you come see the show!]" - CP
"SUCH A GREAT SHOW!" - MR
"I got to see this amazing production of Stray Cat’s THE WOLVES on Wednesday! A fantastic piece of theatre...!" - MH
"Got our shit wrecked by some very powerful performers tonight. TL;DR I cried a lot
This script, from the first time I read it, has always had a hold on my heart. But there’s a different kind of magic that comes with hearing the words out loud and seeing the bonds that are formed by them. Sometimes we forget how strong and resilient young women are. We think they only talk about trivial things like boys or periods and they’re all just #girlythings. But we speak of these things in the midst of heartbreak, turmoil, grief, exile...we work to find ourselves while creating fierce friendships, entertaining political discussions, and helping educate the other women around us despite the world telling us they’re our competition. Society may be too squeamish to hear all we have to say, but our words and our actions speak to our true grit, even if it feels like it goes unnoticed. Stray Cat has once again given us a beautiful story with an incredible cast and I will forever be grateful for a night of theater that showed me parts of myself I thought no one else saw. Bravo, kitties! #wearethewolves" - MT
"Local loves- go see this show at Stray Cat Theatre!! It is theatre at its finest, as well as a great show (for mature audiences) that has strong female voices. So well acted and written. As a mother of a young woman the same age as these characters, it really moved me. #suportlocaltheatre" - HRH
"Listen, I rarely tell you this, because I rarely see theater... But if you don’t see Stray Cat Theatre’s production of The Wolves you are doing yourself and the Arizona theatre community a disservice. Our very own Shannon Phelps rocks the house along with the uber-talented cast. Congrats to my favorite soccer team!" - HD
"Another excellent production by Stray Cat Theatre. Sarah DeLappe’s play "The Wolves" focuses on the members of a high school indoor soccer team. Over the course of the play, we get to know each of the nine girls. As they warm up for a game, they discuss their lives and what happening in the world, but by doing so, they reveal a lot about themselves. The challenges they face are universal, and that is the beauty of the play. I don’t know if any of the cast played soccer, but they looked like real soccer players. They must have practiced a lot. The play was a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Heather Lee Harper directed beautifully and the cast was outstanding." - BO
"Wow. The Wolves at Stray Cat Theatre. Incredible. I’ve never been a “theatre is magic” kind of person, but it’s great to find a show that lets you Feel. All. The. Feelings. Go see it if you get the chance." - AC
"Stray Cat struts its stuff once again. Loved “The Wolves” and I am thrilled to have seen it. Brilliant is an overused accolade, but in this case it is entirely warranted." - PFL
"Damn! Powerful, timely, superbly executed. When you think it’s hard to be an adult...it’s really damn hard to be a kid.: - CH
"I got to see...The Wolves last night and fell in love. This group of talented fierce women made me laugh and made my heart ache." - JT
"I would encourage all people in the Phoenix region to check out Stray Cat Theatre's fierce new production of THE WOLVES by Sarah DeLappe at Tempe Center for the Arts! Exquisitely acted and nimbly directed by Heather Lee Harper...Grab your ticket! Congratulations Ron May and Louis Farber" - RR
"I had the opportunity to see Stray Cat's latest show, "The Wolves" last night. As always, Stray Cat delivers a phenomenally produced show! The acting, design, and directing are all really incredible!
The script is more of a "slice of life" kind of story, but the dialogue is super dynamic and I had fun getting to know each of the characters.
It is really a cool experience to see so many talented female artists working together on such a poignant show." - JD
"Ron May. Dude. The Wolves was so painfully my day to day life that I had trouble differentiating art from reality. I just taught the Khmer Rouge and Cambodian genocides. My students will never forget the Preamble. The behaviors and problems and gossip of your soccer team are my EVERY day life. That cast of terrific young women NAILED it! Fantastic production all around. Loved the set. Loved the lighting. Got a bit confused by stadium seating, but what a wonderful immersive concept! Thank you, again, for your contributions to art in the Valley. You, and Stray Cat Theatre, are appreciated!" - JR
"Saw this last night. Fabulous story and cast! Brace yourself for the ride!" - AC
"Wow, what a show.
Very different. Very new.
Very talented actresses.
Very worth watching.
Stray Cat Theatre, you’ve done it again.
Brava, ladies! IT WAS SO. GOOD. I’m coming back. And bringing friends.
Definitely cried." - BAW
"This is my three sentence review of The Wolves at Stray Cat Theatre.
See. This. Show.
It is absolutely phenomenal!" - KA
"Theatre review: THE WOLVES at Stray Cat Theatre
When young people are written about in media, their concerns are often limited to who likes who, school foibles, popularity, and coming-of-age hijinks that we don't find too threatening to process.
THE WOLVES is not that play.
Our titular wolves are high school junior girls, members of an indoor soccer team. We see through their window to the world as they stretch and practice, hearing them razz one another while discussing the evils of the world.
The girls all form a cohesive team unit, but they all have individual personalities, passing emotions back and forth as quickly as a soccer ball.
Heather Lee Harper at the directorial helm wisely gives her actresses room to stretch, coaxing nuance and sincerity from each performer.
THE WOLVES is funny, deep, sad, and it invites us to look into the mirror of a future generation to see how they see us, the world, and themselves.
You've got until Feb 22 to check it out!" - ET
"First, for the benefit of overseas Facebook friends who might be reading this mini-review, substitute ‘soccer’ for the world’s beautiful game, Football. Second, the play’s title ‘The Wolves’ doesn’t refer to the Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club, it’s the name of the all-girl indoor soccer team that meets Saturday afternoons somewhere in suburban America. They’re ‘The Wolves.’
Ron May’s Stray Cat Theatre opened last weekend at The Tempe Center for the Arts in Tempe with a distinctly unique and remarkable new drama from first-time playwright Sarah DeLappe. All the issues of the world, both large and small, are voiced by the soccer-playing girls of the indoor team as they stretch and warm-up those joints and ham-strings, readying themselves for the following game. So far, they’re undefeated.
In the 90 minute play (no intermission) there’ll be laugh-out-loud humor, tragedy, and ultimately loss. Issues such as the Khmer Rouge and its correct pronunciation top the discussions, followed by everything else going on, including feminine hygiene, other players when they’re not in the room, the team captain’s new haircut, and sniggering at the new girl, the one who has traveled and played the game all over the globe and can’t help but call what they’re playing ‘football’ because that’s what the rest of the world calls it. The girls drop F-bombs as if they were free samples.
But the dialog is a pleasure to hear. The style is to use overlapping speeches where voices cut into others while another conversation may be going on in another corner of the stage. It’s a theatrical version of director Robert Altman’s style who basically pioneered the form with ‘M*A*S*H.’ The performers consisting of nine soccer players and one soccer mom are so well realized it would be wrong to single out an individual actor. You never know character names, and there are no obvious ‘types,’ but you get exactly who each girl is from a combination of good writing and a production that has cast its players exactly right. At this time of the new year, it may be too early to talk in terms of local theatre awards, but if any play should be in the running for ‘Best Ensemble’ in the true sense of what that title means, the girls of ‘The Wolves’ are already the winners." - DA
"Also, two more weekends for you to catch "The Wolves" from Stray Cat Theatre, an up-to-the-minute slice of life about a girls soccer team -- young people just trying to figure out the world and their place in it, with quite a few laughs and a gut punch of an ending. I loved it -- and I'm pretty bummed that the only published review of it (that I could find) was written by someone who consistently JUST DOESN'T GET contemporary playwriting." - KL
"...we caught all the cringey-high-school-gut-punch feels and then some. So wowed by amazing group of ladies I loved already as well as those I got to meet for the first time." - DM
"Ron May it was SO GOOD!! We loved it! Sending my girls back on Wednesday." - BG
"So I saw THE WOLVES at Stray Cat tonight, and holy shit I related so much to the new girl character. I joined a dance team back in high school where all the other girls had been dancing together for ages, and I never stopped feeling like a freak. Everything I said and did was awkward and poorly timed and weird. I just couldn't fit in no matter how hard I tried. So watching that poor girl try her best to connect and make conversation was very reminiscent of my high school dance team days. Anyway. Go see THE WOLVES. #shelivesinayogurt" - KC
"Great show Ron May! With a script like that, for actors, it feels like it would be a master class in the craft on timing, focus etc. and your cast was terrific! Congratulations on the win that mattered for The Wolves!" - MDW