PlayMakers Repertory Company and the UNC School of Education are coming together for a production of “The Wolves.”
The production focuses on nine female teens on a soccer team and the challenges that arise when competition, perfectionism and power dynamics come into play.
These same topics were addressed in a human development summer course that clinical assistant professor Megan Hyland Tajlili ’03 taught in the Master of Education in School Counseling program.
When she found out about “The Wolves” production, Tajlili reached out to assistant teaching professor Aubrey Snowden, the play’s director, offering to connect the cast members with her school counseling students to help the actors better understand their characters.
“We have this fascinating wealth of knowledge about the neuroscience of adolescent brain and why teens are the way they are,” said Tajlili. “What do these bids for attention mean? What do power dynamics mean? As future school counselors who are already seeing this as interns in schools, the students wanted to join the cast as part of their team to consult on this.”
Actors participated in activities, like the game of telephone, to see how language and tone shifted as a rumor traveled throughout the cast. (Brittany D. Cowan/UNC School of Education)
Snowden welcomed this perspective on the issues in the play. “This opportunity to work with the School of Education felt like a natural partnership,” Snowden said. “It’s such a gift for our cast to know these students get it, they understand what we’re trying to do and are invested in it the same way we are.”
The students take education courses and serve as school counselors-in-training at nearby K-12 schools as they prepare for careers to help students succeed academically and socially in school and afterward.
The cohort of about 20 school counseling students met the cast at the play’s first rehearsal. They returned to give the actors a presentation about the adolescent brain, sharing tools counselors use to map relationships and social dynamics within a group. They also had the actors play the telephone game, showing how they sounded harsher and more judgmental whenever they talked about the character who was the subject of the game’s rumor.
“I’m so proud of my students and how they conceptualized this and made it their own. They’re thrilled to see the finished product of the play,” said Tajlili. “What I’ve enjoyed the most is the sense of camaraderie with another academic department. We’ve had a shared vision, and I love creating connections across campus.”
Working with the actors was a good learning experience, said graduate student Taylor Phillips, who first read and watched “The Wolves” in high school.
Taylor Phillips, a school counseling student, also spoke with cast members about their characters to better understand what challenges their characters face during the play. (Brittany D. Cowan/UNC School of Education)
“Thinking about the play and its psychology has been different as an adult and having lived more life,” Phillips said. “I love learning about psychological concepts in class, but I have a different understanding of them now since there was a practical, real-life application in front of my eyes with the play and actors.”
Graduate student Chloe Rhodes enjoyed seeing her future profession from a new lens.
“Sometimes we focus on our work in the context of elementary, middle or high school, so it’s nice to put on a different thinking cap and see how this work applies to concepts beyond a classroom,” she said. “This process has taught me that the work of school counseling is bigger than just college and career readiness. It has a lot to do with mental health.”
Director Snowden hopes the audience also connects with “The Wolves.”
“I hope people take away that moment of identification with these young women and a moment of understanding,” said Snowden. “How this sport and these experiences at this age reverberate throughout your life.”
“The Wolves” ran through Oct. 26 at PlayMakers.