(PRINCETON, NJ) -- McCarter is excited to welcome back audiences and announces its first production of the 2022-23 season, The Wolves, a fierce and funny play by Sarah DeLappe about a young women’s competitive high school soccer team.  Featuring an all-female cast and creative team, the production is directed by Sarah Rasmussen, Artistic Director. Performances begin September 17th through October 16th.

Meet nine young women from a competitive high school soccer team.  It’s just a few weeks until nationals and the pressure is on.  Relatable and resilient, this pack of adolescent warriors will push and train for their games, while also navigating their complicated world. The Wolves is about life, love, and resilience on and off the Astroturf.

“I’m so thrilled to bring Sarah DeLappe’s dynamic, witty and powerful play to McCarter this season, said Director Sarah Rasmussen. “A Pulitzer Prize nominee, The Wolves illuminates so many human stories that will resonate with audiences of all ages.  It’s an incredible drama, but also has a ton of humor.  It’s a fast-moving, electrifying ride that sweeps you up the moment practice begins.” 

Casting includes: Renea Brown (#00), Annie Fox (#13), Katie Griffith (#2), Maria Habeeb (#46), Owen Laheen (#11), Brittany Anikka Liu (#25), Isabel Pask (#14), Katharine Powell (Soccer Mom),Jasmine Sharma (#7), Maggie Thompson (#8), Mikey Gray (Swing), Isabel Rodriquez (Swing).

Sarah DeLappe is a playwright and screenwriter based in New York. As a playwright, she is best known for The Wolves, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2017 and nominated for a number of awards including the Lucille Lortel Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award; and was a finalist for the Yale Prize and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. 

Sarah Rasmussen (Director) took the helm at McCarter as Artistic Director in 2020 and is thrilled to carry on its long tradition of championing new voices onstage. Prior to McCarter, Rasmussen was Artistic Director of the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis, where in recognition of her leadership she was named Star Tribune’s Artist of the Year. Rasmussen also served as Resident Director for Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Black Swan Lab new work development program and Head of MFA Directing at the University of Texas at Austin. She is an alum of the Women’s Project, SoHo Rep., and Lincoln Center Directing Labs. She has directed at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Guthrie, Dallas Theater Center, Actors Theater of Louisville, La Jolla Playhouse, and will be bringing McCarter’s Ride the Cyclone to Arena Stage. She has developed new work with Playwrights’ Center, the O’Neill, the Lark, and many others. She was an inaugural recipient of the BOLD Leadership Circle grant and is also the recipient of a Princess Grace Award, an Ivey Award for Overall Excellence, and Drama League and Fulbright fellowships. As a director, she loves inclusive projects that have a sense of humor, sublime visual theatricality and strong roles for women – both onstage and behind the scenes.   

Photo of Sarah Rasmussen by William Clark

Design and Production team features Junghyun Georgia Lee, Scenic Designer, Raquel Adorno, Costume Designer, Jackie Fox, Lighting Designer, Pornchanok Kanchanabanca, Sound Designer,Nadia Guevara, Assistant Director, Heather Driscoll, Soccer Consultant. 

An independent not-for-profit performing arts center located between New York City and Philadelphia – and on the campus of Princeton University – McCarter is a multi-disciplinary creative and intellectual hub offering theater, music, dance, spoken word, and educational programs for all ages that inspires conversations, connections and collaborations in our communities. We lead with our values of justice and joy, and we seek beauty in belonging. Celebrated for developing new work and winner of the 1994 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, world premieres include Christopher Durang's Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike (Tony, Best Play), Tarell Alvin McCarey's The Brother/Sister Plays, Emily Mann's Having Our Say. Renowned artists who have appeared at McCarter include: Alvin Ailey, Yo-Yo Ma, Audra McDonald, David Sedaris, The Moth, Terence Blanchard, Roseanne Cash, the rock band Lake Street Dive, Shawn Colvin, more. McCarter connects with the community year-round with a Shakespeare Reading Group, digital programming, on-site classes and in-school residencies. McCarter and Princeton University share a long history of unique partnerships and creative collaborations.