By Hansol Jung
Directed by Janet Werther
Oct. 2 - 3, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 3 - 4, 2026 at 2 p.m.
UB Center for the Arts Black Box Theatre
$25 Adults
$20 Seniors/Veterans/UB Employees
$15 Students/Children
$10 UB Students
(Ticketmaster fees apply when purchasing online.)
*Playbill will be available 48 hours before performance.
Robin and her brother anxiously await the arrival of Robin’s newly adopted son, a young Korean boy with an affinity for wolves and a thick, socially protective mask enacted through a puppet avatar. This is no ordinary adoption, however. Peter, the boy’s first adoptive father, is re-homing the child now that he and his unseen wife have borne a biological child. To avoid the costs and formal oversight of the family court system, this adoption is performed informally and under the table—a child relinquished and received with a few signatures. Initially mistaking Robin’s brother for a husband, Peter is appalled to meet Ash, Robin’s nonbinary partner. The realization that he has abandoned his son to a queer couple sparks a crisis of conscience for Peter, who quickly determines to reclaim custody of the boy.
Ash, meanwhile, is skeptical of the whole situation—the legal and emotional precarity of the informal adoption as well as the commitment of parenting when they’re about to debut in professional boxing (with Robin’s brother as their trainer). Every adult believes that they are doing what is “best,” each enacts harm in their turn. As the tenuous bonds of both his first and second adoptions begin to unravel, Wolf (the boy) must figure out how to survive the best intentions of those who want to care for him but don’t know how. As a domestic drama at the intersections of “realism” and emotionally heightened, surrealist memory, “Wolf Play” asks audiences to sit with the deep emotional weight of the failures of best intentions. How can we build lasting connections with one another and repair harm? How might those who have hurt us also have provided our greatest gifts for survival?
“Wolf Play” premiered at several theatres in 2019 and 2020 as part of National New Play Network's rolling world premiere initiative. Premiere theatres included Artists Rep in Portland, Oregon (March 2019), The Gift Theatre in Chicago, Illinois (July 2019) and Company One Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts (February 2020). “Wolf Play” is the 2023 recipient of the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play.
“Wolf Play” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.
www.concordtheatricals.com
Content Advisory: This production addresses mature themes, including issues of child welfare, unstable family dynamics, and emotional distress.
The UB Theatre and Dance 2026-2027 season is sponsored in part by Fox Run at Orchard Park, celebrating its eighth year in support of the department.
The production embraces a stripped-down aesthetic. No lighting or set design, and minimal props and costumes --- effectively, conditions which mirror those which Shakespeare’s players worked in. Elizabethan actors often had only four days of rehearsal. According, our actors will take the stage with script in hand – holding scrolls upon which are their parts so they might reference as they act.
Henry VI ii has 52 named parts. Our actors will play between four and six roles each. In addition, each will be cast in two “tracks.” Before every performance, a coin flip will determine which track they play for that performance, ensuring that every performance will be unique.
As the production develops, director Dr. Danielle Rosvally is documenting the behind-the-scenes process on TikTok at: http://www.tiktok.com/@yassifiedshax (look for “Directing Henry” in the video banner).