REC ROOM ARTS PRESENTS THE HOUSTON PREMIERE OF WOLF PLAY
HOUSTON, TX - (March 27, 2023) - Rec Room Arts (Artistic Director Matt Hune, Associate Artistic Director Sophia Watt, Managing Director Stefan Azizi) announces the opening of WOLF PLAY written by Hansol Jung and directed by Lily Wolff (Hurricane Diane). Following an exciting and extended production at Soho Rep in New York, WOLF PLAY will make its Houston premiere this spring at Rec Room Arts. Preview performances begin on April 6, 2023 with an official press opening night on Saturday, April 8, 2023. Performances run through April 29
When a young South Korean boy, represented onstage as a puppet operated by a wolf, is “re-homed” through a website chat room, he and his brand-new parents (Ash, a professional boxer, and Robin a video game maker) undergo the bizarre, fraught process of becoming a family. Caught in the middle, the boy launches himself on a lone wolf’s journey to find a pack he can call his own. In this wildly theatrical tale about the families we choose and unchoose, Hansol Jung’s WOLF PLAY hunts for familial connection in the wilds of 21st century America.
WOLF PLAY was inspired by a series of articles in 2013 and 2014 about Americans using “Yahoo message boards, Facebook groups, and other online sites to ‘re-home’ unwanted children, most commonly international adoptees,” said playwright Hansol Jung. “I’ve always been interested in stories of departure and landing and the liminal spaces in between and was considering what roots a person to a place and to other people within it. And how do people make family when the idea of it is no longer bound by a traditional sense of biological family?”
WOLF PLAY is difficult to describe, but let’s just say that it is unabashedly theatrical, refreshingly playful, and strikingly heartbreaking all at the same time” said Artistic Director Matt Hune. “Our production tests the limits of individual and collective responsibility as well as our willingness to be there for one another as family. This is truly a special piece of theatre. You will be hard-pressed to find another show as compassionate and inventive as this play” Hune continued.
The complete cast of WOLF PLAY includes Callina Anderson (Robin), Kendrick Brown (Ryan), Kyle Clark (Peter), Alan Kim (Wolf), and Olivia Knight (Ash).
WOLF PLAY will feature scenic design by Stefan Azizi, sound design by Robert Leslie Meek, costume design by Leah Smith, lighting design by Paige Seber, fight choreography by Luke Fedell, and puppetry consultation by Afsaneh Aayani. ChloeSue
Baker is the assistant stage manager and Emily Mordecai is the production stage manager.
WOLF PLAY
COVID POLICY
All Rec Room artists and staff have been fully vaccinated and take part in weekly COVID testing. It is recommended that all patrons receive a complete COVID-19 vaccination regimen at least 14 days prior to entering the theater. Boosters are also encouraged for those eligible under CDC guidelines. Masks are not required in our building. All policies are subject to change and are dependent on CDC guidance. For complete health and safety protocols, visit Safe Return.
The Green Room Bar at Rec Room is open on show-nights beginning at 6:00 p.m. and closes at midnight.
BIOS
HANSOL JUNG (Playwright) is a playwright and director from South Korea. Her productions include Cardboard Piano, Among the Dead, No More Sad Things, Wolf Play, and Wild Goose Dreams. Her work has been developed at the Royal Court, New York Theatre Workshop, Berkeley Repertory’s Ground Floor, and more. She is the recipient of the P73 Playwright Fellowship, Rita Goldberg Playwrights’ Workshop Fellowship at the Lark, 2050 Fellowship at New York Theatre Workshop, and others. Jung has translated over thirty English musicals into Korean. She holds a Playwriting MFA from the Yale School of Drama and is a member of the Ma-Yi Theatre Writers Lab.
LILY WOLF (Director) is a British-American director and new play dramaturg/superfan. Formerly Literary Manager at the Alley Theatre, Lily worked passionately on the Alley All New initiative from 2018-2022 until she relocated to Philadelphia with her family (promptly cursing all of their sports teams...). Lily is now Director of Play Development for renowned visual artist and burgeoning playwright John Ransom Phillips. Recently: Lily directed Hurricane Diane for Rec Room Arts; a series of pandemic audio plays for their Writer’s Group; taught play development and collaboration, workshops at the University of Houston, The University of Texas at Austin, and HSPVA; dramaturged a new play set in Galveston for New York Stage and Film/New Georges; directed in an Italian new play festival at Theatre503 in London; and became a Pandemic Parent! Previous directing credits include: Hurricane Diane (Houston Theatre Awards “Best Play/Production,” “Best Ensemble,” and “Best Director” Finalist), The Oresteia, From White Plains (Houston Theatre Awards “Best Play/Production” and “Best Director” Finalist), The Madres (NNPN Rolling World Premiere), Cry It Out, A Bright Room Called Day, The Effect, Fahrenheit 451, Lungs (“Best Direction” Austin Critics Table Award), As You Like It, and Gidion’s Knot. Lily is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
TICKETS AND INFORMATION
Single tickets are now on sale and range from $5 - $40. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at https://www. recroomarts.org/wolf-play
WOLF PLAY begins performances on Thursday April 6 and will run through Saturday April 29, with an official press opening on Saturday, April 8
The performance schedule is Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
All performances are downtown at Rec Rom, 100 Jackson Street 130C, Houston, TX 77002
ABOUT REC ROOM ARTS
Rec Room Arts is a non-profit theater organization whose mission is to develop innovative performances by emerging and established artists in order to energize a new generation of audiences for the arts. Rec Room Arts is interested in providing unique and enjoyable experiences through theater that enhance the cultural imagination and social wellbeing of Houston. Rec Room believes in the theatrical examination of individual experiences and operates under the principles that theater shapes behaviors, patterns, and the collective unconscious. Furthermore, Rec Room believes in the importance of making the overall experience of going to the theater pleasurable. Therefore, audiences are invited to arrive early and stay late to socialize in our bar.
Matt Hune is Artistic Director/Co-founder; Stefan Azizi is Executive Director; Sophia Watt is Associate Artistic Director.
