This past weekend saw the run of Wolf Play, written by Hansol Jung and directed by Sophie Wheeler ‘25. Beyond fulfilling the requirement for her senior thesis, the piece perfectly showcases Wheeler’s brilliant creativity and proficiency in all things theater arts.
Wolf Play follows a six-year-old boy (or wolf, played by Josie Kim ‘27), as he is adopted by a lesbian couple, Robin (played by Ananya Rao ‘25) and Ash (played by Ruby Marden ‘27), and the love, struggle, joy and pain that this new experience brings. Wheeler’s eye has caught a gem in Jung’s Wolf Play, as it is in equal parts hilarious, uplifting, heartfelt and tragically devastating.
Taking place on a small scale of time, perhaps weeks or months, Wolf Play focuses on Robin and Ash’s navigation of being parents while managing their own professional and personal lives, as well as the dysfunctional families around them. Wheeler describes Wolf Play as “a manifestation of our current country, in which those holding power force their ideologies onto the less powerful,” as stated in the director’s note. This theme of ideology appears throughout the play, as the family has to weather the expectations and outside forces of others. Wheeler also delved into a greater societal context in which this play takes place, one in which children like Wolf are shaped by families trying to force him into a specific definition of family.
Staged in the small (and often overlooked) Martin Andrucki black-box theater, the space has been transformed into a setting both childishly playful and maturely droll and insignificant. The dull grays of the kitchen space upstage contrast starkly with the colorful chalk (drawn by real kids!) along the black floors of the theater, separating the spaces of childhood and adulthood visually in the space. The set itself has some unexpected bells and whistles: sinks that run, fridges with lights in them and cabinets where props are stored. In a small theater like the black-box, these details go miles in immersing the audience into the space.
Acting with such proximity to the audience is no small feat, and in that regard I already commend the entirety of the cast on all delivering truly moving performances. Even more commendable is the leading performance of Josie Kim ‘27, as the titular Wolf, the heart of the play. Kim offers a multi-layered performance, using a life-sized puppet as well as their own body to depict the young boy. The puppet leaves Kim’s possession throughout the play, allowing for much of the cast to interact with it as though it was its own character in the play. I found this choice to be well supported by the weight and control with which the Wolf puppet was maneuvered. The production made great use of Carol Farrell, a consultant for puppetry and movement for the piece.
The puppet itself also begins to become a genuine object of empathy later in the play. As shown below, as things come to ahead for the family: as Ash’s boxing career is sidetracked by her committing to raising Wolf, her trainer and brother of her partner, Ryan (played by Jiaqi Wu ‘25) inflicts serious abuse on the puppet, which roused a strong reaction from me, which really was a testament to Wu and his ability to play off an inanimate object as though it was a real living person.
Similarly at the heart of this play is the way men on the periphery of Wolf’s family attempt to enforce their ideology onto others. The play features Wu and Aidan Bergeron ‘27 taking phone calls from family, depicting how these ideological pressures are coming in from the outside. Bergeron as well should be commended for his depiction of the “villain” of this story as Peter, Wolf’s biological father, who while being generally detestable, still comes across as at least sympathetic, as he is navigating a very different kind of broken family.
The show ends on a decisively unsatisfying note, as after a long battle for custody over Wolf, he is removed from his new family and given over to the state. Despite the narratively ambiguous ending, this is where I saw this show at its absolute strongest – technically and emotionally. The legal battle itself is depicted in such a way as to compare it to the boxing matches throughout the play, with the theater being awash in vibrant light, with a rapid-fire pace of dialogue that gave the climax the “punch” it needed. As the results come down, the play ends on a somber note, bringing the situation back into reality. Rao as Robin, who consistently grounded this story of very high-energy characters, delivers a heart-wrenching performance that portrays the tragedy of the final moments of Wolf Play.
Wheeler’s production of Wolf Play showcases the passion, commitment and creativity that student-led productions are all about. A huge round of applause for everyone involved in this project, and congratulations on an incredible production!
