The Wolves: A Play

The play takes place in American suburbia, on the Astroturf of an Air Dome-covered indoor soccer field. In each scene, the Wolves, a girls’ winter soccer team, is warming up for a weekly Saturday game. Throughout, the girls are identified only by their jersey numbers. The nine girls are stretching together, an exercise they repeat together each week. #11, #25, and #13 debate whether a perpetrator of the Cambodian genocide who is now on trial in his 90s for war crimes ought to be fully punished at his age. After watching his videoed testimony, #11, age 17, who plays midfield and is “brainy” but “morbid” (11), isn’t sure he should be punished fully. #25, age 17 and the team’s captain as well as the daughter of their former coach, points out the man on trial was responsible for murdering hundreds of thousands of innocent people. #13, age 16, is a “stoner” and plays midfield and agrees with #25 (11). Simultaneously, in overlapping dialogue, #2, #14, #8, and #7 talk about menstruation. #2, who is 16 and plays defense, is on her period.