THE WOLVES
A story of football , friendship and young adulthood brought to the stage – and screen – by an all-female Sixth Form ensemble cast .
Sarah DeLappe ’ s The Wolves brings to the stage a story of friendship , resilience and personal development . When we selected the play , no one could have anticipated quite how pertinent these themes would be to our young adults , nor could we have predicted how important the play and its rehearsals would be to the girls during the difficult period of Covid-19 .
In The Wolves , nine female footballers playing for their local team grapple with a number of difficulties as they grow up together into powerful and independent young women . Led by the Captain of the team – played by Madelyn Morris – the girls prepare for their Saturday tournament matches , with personality clashes flaring and friendly banter fuelled by the sarcastic inputs of Number Seven ( Isabella Munday ). The girls worked tirelessly to develop their football skills and Isabella Osborne perfected her dives in goal . It was a real pleasure to see how they all came together to work outside their comfort zones in order to deliver outstanding performances .
When , a week before the performance , the UK government announced that no live performances could be hosted , the girls were understandably disappointed . That said , they kept the smiles on their faces and agreed that they would put everything they had into rehearsing the play for a screening instead , working under the guidance of film director David Cordón Bates . A week later , the girls were able to sit amongst friends in their year group bubble and watch the performance together . The actors – Madelyn Morris , Isabella Munday , Isabella Osborne , Sofia Setas , Isabella Wardell , Lauren Osborne-Patterson , Anastasia Dubovik , Abigail Scott and Cora Taylor – will certainly remember the experience for a long time and should be extremely proud of what they achieved .
Hanna Jay
48 DRAMA REVIEW