Theater course puts on production of "The Wolves"

The “Production Studies III” theater course will be putting on their production of “The Wolves” in the Cousins Studio Theater in the Modlin Center for the Arts starting Feb. 13 through Feb. 16.

“The Wolves” follows an all-girls soccer team in its junior year of high school over the course of its indoor season of about six weeks. The girls discuss a range of topics from the Cambodian Genocide to feminine hygiene, said senior María Acosta, the play's director and lighting designer. 

“The really cool thing about this show is we see teenage girls using their bodies for something that isn’t sexual,” Acosta said. “They are playing soccer, being athletic, being strong, being everything they want to be.”

The students are in charge of choosing the production they will put together, Acosta said, and the students had outlined a list of values they wanted their show to uphold.

Senior Ally Charleston, the show’s stage manager, producer and public relations and marketing director, said the class had put together a list of their top 10 values they had wanted to display to their audience through the play.

“This play, it just hits every single one of them,” Charleston said.

This list of values included realism, diversity and giving the audience a performance they can relate too, said Charleston. These values all created a “vision” for the presentation they aim to give.

“Our vision was this focus on pressure of time, and how we transition in times of change,” Acosta said. “As they come together you get this idea of these cycles and how do we transition through these cycles.”

Another piece of “The Wolves” both Acosta and Charleston said they had enjoyed had been the ability to have a diverse cast. Acosta said the set cast for the performance had allowed the students to choose any female identifying or non-binary actors to fulfill the roles. 

“We wanted people diverse in every sense, and maybe people who hadn’t been involved in the theater department previously,” Charleston said.

Outside of the theater itself, the students had to work to earn money and spread awareness for their show on their own, Acosta said. 

The “Production Studies III” course is considered the capstone of the theater major at the University of Richmond, Acosta said, and everything that goes into this play is worked out by the students. 

“We have to raise our own money, or find our own funds for the production,” Charleston said. “I track every receipt, everything spent. I had to find the funds from various sources on campus.”

In the end, Charleston was able to earn the production of “The Wolves” almost $8,000. Charleston also said she was confident that if the show needed more money, they could find the resources.

The production is open to anyone during its four-day run in the Modlin Center, however some students were able to attend the dress rehearsal the day before the opening night performance.

“I am seeing this for my Basics of Acting course and I am really excited,” said sophomore Elizabeth Stilson. “I don’t know a lot about this play, but I think it will be exciting to see the student actors.”

“The Wolves” opening night production sold out online. However, anyone who has an interest in seeing the show is encouraged to come and claim any extra available seats. 

“If you want to lock into a world where you get to witness really strong females, this is a show you won’t want to miss,” Acosta said.

Contact contributor Liv Ronca at liv.ronca@richmond.edu.