Stage Review - Wolf Play (ACT)
Stage Review - Wolf Play
Presented By: A Contemporary Theatre (ACT), Seattle, WA
Date Reviewed: Sunday, May 7, 2023
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
Most of us, at one time or another, have purchased something off the Internet. Whether it’s the lawnmower that your neighbor has for sale, or a gently used piece of furniture, within the laws of supply and demand, usually when someone has something to sell, there is another party on the other end who desires or needs the item or items listed for sale. The Internet has simply widened the net of what has typically been limited to the flea market set. But what would you do if you wanted to have a child and couldn’t on your own, and what would you do if you saw a child listed for sale on the Internet? Your first reaction might be to think who on earth would sell a child on the Internet, but if desperation was the order of the day, you might be intrigued, even just a little, perhaps enough to at least look into it a little. It might seem too good to be true, the ability to have a child without the protracted legal process and cash outlay that is typical in the standard adoption process, and if you thought that, you’d probably be right. Nonetheless, it is this idea that drives the setting of Wolf Play, written by Hansol Jung and currently on stage at ACT’s Allen Theatre through May 21.
Directed at ACT by Rosa Joshi, Wolf Play has enough angst to go around. First, there is Peter (Aaron Blakey) and his wife, who didn’t think they could have children of their own, so they adopted a young Korean boy. Once they discovered that they, in fact, could (and did) have their own biological child, they decided that their lives weren’t big enough for both children, so the couple took out a Facebook ad listing their first (“Peter, Jr.”) as available to anyone who might want to take him of their hands. Next is Robin and Ash (Vashita Vafadari and S. Franco), a queer couple on slightly different paths, Ash an amateur boxer about to turn pro, and Robin, employed at a video game company, the latter intrigued by the opportunity to add to their family through adoption. Ash is managed by Robin’s brother Ryan (Xander DeAngeles), who also owns his own gym. Robin takes Peter up on his offer and agrees to bring the young boy into her family, without completely consulting with Ash before doing so. It’s when the adoption takes place that things begin to go sideways. Perhaps not everyone was completely honest in the exchange, and in a stressful time like this, individuals’ true colors come out. Peter, thinking that the adoptive family was Robin and Ryan, is aghast when he meets Ash and learns that it’s not Ryan who will be helping to raise the boy, concerned that his child won’t be raised in a “traditional family”. Ash is upset with Robin for not having been consulted on the adoption. Ryan wonders about the entire process because, after all, who lists a child for sale on Facebook, and furthermore, who buys a child that is listed on Facebook? And while all of this angst is being perpetrated by the adults in the room, where does that leave the boy, who really is at the center of all of this?
The boy has already been through a lot, his birth family left behind in Korea, and now his adoptive family giving him up to a strange new couple. Who has his back? Who is in his corner? From his perspective, he’s a lone wolf, left to fend for himself in the wild while his pack has moved on. But can a lone wolf integrate into a new pack? And how does one identify the hierarchy in the new pack? This is what is at the heart of Wolf Play, and what makes this work is not just the story that is being told, but how it is being told. The show starts out with actor Morgan Gwilym presenting a hypothetical question to the audience. “What if I told you I am not what you think you see?” He implores the audience to suspend their disbelief and not look at him as simply a “human actor”, but rather, in his words, “I am the wolf”. It’s soon clear what he is referring to. The wolf is the show’s narrator, but he’s also the boy’s alter ego. The boy himself is represented by a puppet, handled by the wolf alter ego, who explains to the audience throughout what the boy is thinking, how he is feeling, all from the wolf’s point of view. It’s a unique manner of storytelling, and it’s quite effective. The puppet, designed by Amanda Villalobos, appears to be sort of a Pinocchio, cobbled together with what appears at first to be a nondescript face. But that’s not it at all. The puppet, through Annett Mateo’s coaching and Morgan’s handling, is able to express as much emotion as any human on stage. It’s quite genius, actually, and so well executed.
As the story progresses, the Wolf’s journey brings him into this new pack, at times pitting members of the pack against each other, bringing into question the definition of what family really is. Ryan is not just concerned with the fact that his sister has taken on a new family member basically sight unseen, but he’s also concerned with the lack of a male role model in the boy’s life. Perhaps honestly, or perhaps as a method to shine a light on what he believes is his sister’s shortsightedness, he calls Robin’s priorities into question. He is, after all, family, but while he has his definition of it, so does Robin, and there are differences in perspective here. There are serious questions and intimate moments throughout, and the beauty of a space like ACT’s Allen Theatre is that the audience is right there in these situations. In a standard auditorium, with stage and theatre seating, intimate conversations don’t always come across as such, there is blocking to be considered, and projection, but here, in the round, actors can look each other directly in the eye and have conversations that are truly intimate. It’s also a space in which individual actors are allowed to shine, and this cast does. Morgan Gwilym as The Wolf makes a connection with the audience early and maintains it throughout. It's tricky to capture the range of emotions that this young boy goes through as well as he does, while simultaneously working a puppet. Vashita captures Robin’s hopefulness as a new mom, frustration with Ryan’s perceived inability to be happy for her happiness, and unconditional love for her now son, sometimes to a fault. S. Franco’s Ash has a strong exterior, being a boxer that’s a must, but this new addition to their life exposes a softness that must be what Robin fell in love with. It’s a complexity that draws the wolf to Ash, and it’s a transformation that S. Franco portrays wonderfully.
If there’s a real villain here, I suppose it’s Peter. Perhaps a little less so would be Ryan. Ryan is more a victim of his upbringing, and while Robin has found her own truth in her life with Ash, Ryan, while doing his best to accept Robin’s life, tends to fall back to a more conservative point of view, especially in times of stress. Xander’s turn as Ryan brings this all to light. He’s able to capture Ryan’s conflict between supporting his sister and his management of Ash’s career. It’s unclear the motivations behind his actions, and that’s ultimately the beauty of Xander’s performance, because life is never cut and dry, it’s a confluence of perspectives and experiences, many of them in conflict with each other. There’s a tipping point in the show, a conversation between Ryan and Ash, one of those very real feeling situations, played out in front of the audience that is so pure and so wonderfully acted between S. Franco and Xander where this conflict is portrayed so wonderfully that it feels real, not that it’s two actors saying memorized lines but rather two humans having a true interaction. And yes, there is Peter. Perhaps the most difficult character for the audience to support, and a lot of that comes down to Aaron Blakey’s performance. This play is filled top to bottom with complex characters and Peter is no different. There’s a lot going on under the surface with the man who listed his child for sale on the Internet. By all accounts, Peter is not a good person, and he’s quite repulsive at times, but credit to Aaron’s performance that this comes across so vehemently. I liked how much I truly did not like this character, it’s such a good characterization and portrayal.
A good director takes the tools that he or she is given and makes the most out of all of them to raise a story to another level, which is exactly what Rosa Joshi has done here. She’s created an environment that allows for those very real and intimate conversations to take place, and has freed up this talented cast to raise their performances. Rosa has also assembled a wonderful technical and creative team to help tell this story. Using the Allen Theatre’s multilevel structure, Andrea Bush’s scenic design takes full advantage of the space, and in concert with Rosa’s direction, has provided a unique way to interweave character arcs together. The stage itself is used quite well for its portrayal of various settings within the story. At times it’s setup to be Ryan’s gym, where Ash is training, it’s also Robin and Ash’s living room, and eventually the boxing ring where Ash has their pro debut. It’s also a kitchen, simultaneously Robin and Ash’s, Ryan’s, and Peter’s. The way this is done is like nothing I’ve seen before, where three settings and three conversations are happening at the same time on stage. It’s a dance of dialogue and movement that is so well designed that it moves each of the individual story arcs along while keeping the pace of the overall plot up. It’s a tricky piece to make work well, with all of the characters moving together, using many of the same set pieces, but at slightly different times. During Sunday’s performance, it was clear that the actors were thinking through it a bit, making sure not to run into each other, so there was a slight choppiness to it at times, but it’s also important to note that this was still technically a preview performance, so that’s to be expected. It’s close, though, and I expect that choppiness to be gone by the time of the show’s official opening on May 11. The role of stage manager in a production is one that often goes overlooked, and I’m just as guilty as the next, but in this case it’s a role that deserves to be called out explicitly. During each kitchen scene, it’s breakfast, which means a protein shake for Ryan, cereal for Ash, and baby formula for Peter, and even though the dialogue is different for each, the actions are relatively consistent, at least at that macro level. Between each of the different scenes, the kitchen set pieces sink below the stage level and are completely reset. It’s imperative that this be done and done right for the flow of the show, and kudos to Stage Manager Tori Thompson for making this happen.
Tori is also listed in the credits as fight captain, and her work here also deserves to be called out, in collaboration with Intimacy and Fight Coordinator Helen Roundhill, and Boxing Coach Laura Wright. Boxing is used both as part of Ash’s character arc and also as a metaphor, depicting the fight that The Wolf is experiencing through his journey. The boxing and fighting are very well done, all part of the overall choreography that is Wolf Play. Tori and Helen are important pieces to this unique and well crafted puzzle that Director Rosa Joshi has assembled, rounded out by Meghan Roche’s sound design, Connie Yun’s wonderful use of lighting, and Christine Tschirgi’s costumes. It’s a complete creative package that not just supports the story, but adds to both its narrative and emotion.
Wolf Play sets out to tackle some difficult subjects, from the American adoption system to the idea of what each of us individually and collectively have come to understand as the definition of family. It challenges us to take an empathetic view into the lives of individuals and groups that may not look and act like we do, and contemplate how we would act in these same situations they each find themselves in. If you expect Wolf Play to sort it all out for you, you’re howling up the wrong tree, but if you’re looking for an intellectual piece of art that will challenge you to take a reflective look at your own life in a uniquely designed and creatively executed way, then you’ve indeed found the right pack.
Wolf Play runs through May 21 at the Allen Theatre at ACT in Seattle. For more information and tickets, visit https://acttheatre.org/. Note that there are elements of simulated violence against children, misgendering and homophobia.
Photo courtesy: Rosemary Dai Ross Photography