Stage Door News
Stage Door News
The Howland Company and Crow’s Theatre are thrilled to open the 2018-2019 Crow’s Theatre season with the Toronto premiere of Sarah DeLappe’s exhilarating debut play The Wolves, on stage October 9 – 27 at Streetcar Crowsnest. (Media night: October 12).
Left quad. Right quad. Lunge. A girls indoor soccer team warms up. From the safety of their stretch circle, nine girls navigate and question the world around them with the determination of warriors. This provocative play, a 2017 Pulitzer Prize finalist, captures the profound beauty of adolescence and paints a portrait of nuanced young women navigating the game, their lives and a growing understanding of a complicated world.
A juggernaut from the start, The Wolves first premiered off Broadway in September 2016 at The Duke on 42nd Street to universal critical acclaim, eventually transferring to Lincoln Centre in November of 2017. In addition to being a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the production won an Obie Ensemble Award, a special Drama Desk Award for its acting ensemble, and was nominated for Lucille Lortel and Drama League awards for Best Play, as well as for the Outer Critics’ Circle John Gassner Award for Outstanding New American Play.
Speaking of her inspirations for the play, DeLappe has said, “I wanted to see a portrait of teenage girls as human beings -- as complicated, nuanced, very idiosyncratic people who weren’t just girlfriends or sex objects or manic pixie dream girls but who were athletes and daughters and students and scholars and people who were trying actively to figure out who they were in this changing world around them.”
"I found The Wolves two years ago on the New Play Exchange List (a collection of new plays that seeks to promote exceptional female writers) and began working tirelessly to secure the rights and funding to bring it to Toronto, and in that time it’s popularity exploded,” says Howland Company Founding Artist Ruth Goodwin. “In addition to the Pulitzer shortlisting and other awards it was named one of the Best 25 Plays in the last 25 years by The New York Times last year - and for good reason. It is an incredible, poetic and ground-breaking script. When Crow’s reached out to partner with us, we were thrilled to join forces with a company whose work we have admired for years. It is with Crow’s support that we are able to produce the largest play in our short four year history, at the scale it demands.”
This new production will be the first full collaboration between The Howland Company - an independent theatre ensemble known for their Fringe Festival hits 52 Pick Up (Best of Fringe selection) and Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons (Fringe Patron’s Pick), as well as their recent two time Dora-nominated production of Punk Rock - and Crow’s Theatre. Since establishing themselves four years ago, The Howland Company has developed and produced numerous other projects including a new adaptation of Ödön von Horváth’s Casimir and Caroline, Susanna Fournier’s new performance text take rimbaud, and an innovative and intimate production of The Glass Menagerie. The company made noise again this summer at The Toronto Fringe Festival with their ‘Best of Fringe’ winning production of Entrances and Exits, a completely improvised play based on the structure of traditional farce.
Crow’s Theatre welcomes The Howland Company back to Streetcar Crownest in October, this time in the Guloien Theatre, as co-producers and Crow’s first co-production supported by the Slaight Family Creation Residency. This program, the result of a generous gift from the Slaight Family Foundation, provides transformative support for emerging and innovative artists and ensembles through development and production residencies, as well as co-productions such as The Wolves.
“We are thrilled to be kicking off our 2018-2019 season in partnership with The Howland Company for this astonishing play,” said Crow’s Theatre Artistic Director Chris Abraham. “The Wolves knocked my socks off when I read it last year. It’s a perfect fit for The Howland Company. It introduces a season that features a collection of plays that examine the ascendant power and influence of young people. The Howland Company has carved out a unique space for stories that centre on the lives of young people and we’re thrilled to be partnering with them. With 52 Pick-Up they introduced a new and sharp directorial voice in Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster, and we can’t wait for audiences to discover this incredible new play in Courtney’s production.”
The Howland Company founding member and two-time Dora winner Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster (co-director of the sold out Fringe Festival hit, 52 Pick-Up) directs The Wolves, with two other company members in the cast, Ruth Goodwin and Hallie Seline, most recently seen in Punk Rock. They are joined by Rachel Cairns (Tarragon’s Bunny), Aisha Evelyna (short film Accidentals), Annelise Hawrylak (Dauntless City Theatre’s Twelfth Night), Ula Jurecka (Canadian Rep Theatre’s Dreams), Brittany Kay (Harold Green Jewish Theatre’s Mikveh), Heath V. Salazar (Storefront Theatre’s Chasse-Galerie), and Amaka Umeh (2018 Canadian Stage Shakespeare in High Park company, Crow’s Theatre Towards Youth).
The creative team on The Wolves includes Deanna H. Choi as sound designer, Jareth Li as set and lighting designer, and Sarah Doucet designing costumes.
The Wolves runs October 9 – 27 (Media night: October 12) at Streetcar Crowsnest (345 Carlaw Avenue) in the Guloien Theatre. Shows are scheduled Monday through Saturday at 8:00pm with Wednesday matinees at 1:30pm and Saturday matinees at 2:00pm. Tickets are now available for Crow’s 2018-2019 season with regular tickets starting at $22, Frequent Flyer season passes are available: 4-Play Flyers save 20% and 8-Play Flyers save 30% on all of their tickets. Passholders choose the dates, times and shows – maximum flexibility and savings. Get online information and make ticket purchases at crowstheatre.com.
A Howland Company and Crow’s Theatre production
The Wolves
October 9-27, 2018 (Guloien Theatre)
Written by Sarah DeLappe
Directed by Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster
Sound design by Deanna H. Choi
Set and lighting design by Jareth Li
Costume design by Sarah Doucet
Hashtag: #TheWolvesTO
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2018-08-28
Toronto: The Howland Company and Crow's Theatre present "The Wolves" October 9 to 27