Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

In Delaney Britt Brewer’s WOLVES, we’re placed under a full moon and into an uneasy reality that unfolds by way of a loosely related series of one acts.  The first and most fully realized, “A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,” follows a couple as they struggle to figure the most humane thing to do after striking a wolf with their car.  While prepping for a merciful kill, a series of conversations uncover the realization that they don’t love each other and maybe never did. Stylishly punctuating this story is a linear flashback of the earlier evening.  This serves to provide insight as to why this is the night that their relationship ends.  The dialogue is quick-witted and delivered easily by an attractive, capable ensemble. 

Part two, “Crying Wolf,” takes us to a secluded forest where a woman is haunted by apparitions of her ex-girlfriend while she waits with her brother to sprinkle her mother’s ashes at midnight.  The final piece, “Wolf at the Door,” dizzily follows the demise of a marriage as told through a series of depressing, passive aggressive missives sadly relayed by their daughter, Wolf, of course.  These final two-thirds feel incomplete and shoe-horned into the performance using distantly relatable scenarios to tether them to the first.  As a result, the play ends in a way that doesn’t deliver on the promise of the introductory piece.

In ‘Sheep’s Clothing,’ Ms. Brewer’s expertly sets the stage for an openly tense relationship ready to implode, and then treats the audience to enjoy the deliciously voyeuristic demise.  Along the way she tackles some very relevant social themes: the idea of having “adult ventures” by your thirties, expectations of masculinity and whether wanting to cheat and saying it out loud is worse than actually doing it.  It is sexy, it is smart and frankly, you wish there was a second act to this act.

Mike Klar directs the show with a Donnie Darko-esque aesthetic which creates an environment that is sad, honest and on occasion, well, weird.  He takes pleasure in utilizing his consistently talented cast to deliver staging that is at times intentionally uncomfortable, and it is out of these moments that some of the most effective exchanges arise.  The tempos are taut which serve to command the audience’s attention throughout the plays’ dramatic highs and lows.

Maruti Evan’s design is excellent!  Whether at a posh cocktail party or the side of a snowy road, the tone subtly says, “there’s danger in the forest…” while providing an open playing space that quickly adapts to meet the needs of these three vastly different pieces.

Going forward, the hope would be that part one of the evening find its way to an extended play.  Delaney Britt Brewer has a strong grasp on efficient, intelligent dialogue and it makes one genuinely curious to see where this vignette might lead if we got the opportunity to see both sides of this couple’s lives after they decided to put the wolf out of his misery.