What do you think?
The Wrestling Season
- GenresPlays
71 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2000
About the author
Laurie Brooks
19 books13 followersLaurie Brooks is an award-winning playwright and YA fiction author.
Awards and grants include TCG's National Theatre Artists Residency Program, AT&T Firststage award, three Distinguished Play Awards and the Charlotte Chorpenning Cup from AATE, NY Foundation for the Arts, and Irish Arts Council Commissioning Grant (with Graffiti Theatre Company, Cork, Ireland).
Brooks' Lies and Deceptions Quartet for young adults includes The Wrestling Season, commissioned by The Coterie Theatre, Kansas City, MO, featured at The Kennedy Center's One Theatre World, printed in the Playscript Series, November 2000, American Theatre magazine, and winner of "Best of" awards in Seattle, Kansas City and Dallas.
Additional award-winning plays include Deadly Weapons, The Tangled Web, Everyday Heroes.
Selkie, Devon's Hurt, The Match Girl's Gift, Franklin's Apprentice, The Lost Ones and Brave No World, commissioned and premiered at The Kennedy Center in 2006.
Brooks has worked extensively in Ireland and has been Professor and Playwright in Residence at New York University. She has served as playwright in residence for the HYPE Institute at the ALLEY Theatre in Houston and has been guest lecturer at University of Missouri Kansas City (2005), The University of Texas at Austin (2006), and as Artist in Residence at Arizona State University in 2007-08. Her article, "Put A Little Boal in Your Theatre: A New Model for Talkbacks" appeared in American Theatre magazine and she was a featured artist at the 2007 TCG National Conference at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis.
Brooks' book for young adults, Selkie Girl, is available in fine bookstores from Knopf—in hardcover and also as an ebook!
Awards and grants include TCG's National Theatre Artists Residency Program, AT&T Firststage award, three Distinguished Play Awards and the Charlotte Chorpenning Cup from AATE, NY Foundation for the Arts, and Irish Arts Council Commissioning Grant (with Graffiti Theatre Company, Cork, Ireland).
Brooks' Lies and Deceptions Quartet for young adults includes The Wrestling Season, commissioned by The Coterie Theatre, Kansas City, MO, featured at The Kennedy Center's One Theatre World, printed in the Playscript Series, November 2000, American Theatre magazine, and winner of "Best of" awards in Seattle, Kansas City and Dallas.
Additional award-winning plays include Deadly Weapons, The Tangled Web, Everyday Heroes.
Selkie, Devon's Hurt, The Match Girl's Gift, Franklin's Apprentice, The Lost Ones and Brave No World, commissioned and premiered at The Kennedy Center in 2006.
Brooks has worked extensively in Ireland and has been Professor and Playwright in Residence at New York University. She has served as playwright in residence for the HYPE Institute at the ALLEY Theatre in Houston and has been guest lecturer at University of Missouri Kansas City (2005), The University of Texas at Austin (2006), and as Artist in Residence at Arizona State University in 2007-08. Her article, "Put A Little Boal in Your Theatre: A New Model for Talkbacks" appeared in American Theatre magazine and she was a featured artist at the 2007 TCG National Conference at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis.
Brooks' book for young adults, Selkie Girl, is available in fine bookstores from Knopf—in hardcover and also as an ebook!
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 14, 2023
So many trigger warnings that would need to be given for this play for YOUNG audiences…
Good and important subject matter though. Is aging pretty well and still relevant 20 years later, although hopefully will be outdated soon!
Theatrically speaking, it’s not the most accessible of plays. The staging of the emotional warfare as literal wrestling combat may be a little too avant garde for some young audience’s. Not saying that actually is avant garde, nor that young audiences shouldn’t be exposed to more “experimental” theatre, but just a realistic observation that I think many young people will find it too weird to emotionally invest in
Good and important subject matter though. Is aging pretty well and still relevant 20 years later, although hopefully will be outdated soon!
Theatrically speaking, it’s not the most accessible of plays. The staging of the emotional warfare as literal wrestling combat may be a little too avant garde for some young audience’s. Not saying that actually is avant garde, nor that young audiences shouldn’t be exposed to more “experimental” theatre, but just a realistic observation that I think many young people will find it too weird to emotionally invest in
August 5, 2020
Deep play script that forces the audience to think but doesn't tell them what to think.
June 28, 2024
Painful, but full of truth.
September 19, 2009
Most basically, The Wrestling Season is the story of Matt—a high-school wrestler who wants to win the state championship, thus enabling him a chance at major college scholarships, the acceptance of his peers and the pride of his mother.
However, the play also includes the stories of several of Matt’s high-school peers and teammates. The central conflict of the story revolves around Matt’s sexuality…particularly in response to rumors of a homosexual relationship with a teammate (and close friend/tutor) named Luke. Partially to combat these rumors, Matt decides to date Melanie…and, surprisingly to both of them, a close friendship develops.
Interestingly, I think one of the most compelling elements Brooks incorporates is the usage of wrestling signals (which correspond to the emotions of each scene). While a traditional theatre-goer (myself) might not understand these signals, a high-school wrestler who happened to be in the audience certainly would. This added dimension has the potential to make an athlete feel very included and understood by the playwright, which is an interesting (and likely rare) element.
Practically, I think this play is an compelling choice for a gender segregated high-school that has a close working relationship with a sister/brother school. For practical purposes, most of the all male/all female scenes can be rehearsed separately until shortly before the play is to be staged. I know that these schools often have a difficult time choosing literature for performance because most plays are written for both genders, so this presents an interesting option. However, many all male/all female schools are Catholic in affiliation….which presents a completely different issue.
However, the play also includes the stories of several of Matt’s high-school peers and teammates. The central conflict of the story revolves around Matt’s sexuality…particularly in response to rumors of a homosexual relationship with a teammate (and close friend/tutor) named Luke. Partially to combat these rumors, Matt decides to date Melanie…and, surprisingly to both of them, a close friendship develops.
Interestingly, I think one of the most compelling elements Brooks incorporates is the usage of wrestling signals (which correspond to the emotions of each scene). While a traditional theatre-goer (myself) might not understand these signals, a high-school wrestler who happened to be in the audience certainly would. This added dimension has the potential to make an athlete feel very included and understood by the playwright, which is an interesting (and likely rare) element.
Practically, I think this play is an compelling choice for a gender segregated high-school that has a close working relationship with a sister/brother school. For practical purposes, most of the all male/all female scenes can be rehearsed separately until shortly before the play is to be staged. I know that these schools often have a difficult time choosing literature for performance because most plays are written for both genders, so this presents an interesting option. However, many all male/all female schools are Catholic in affiliation….which presents a completely different issue.
December 7, 2015
A friend of mine let me borrow this play. It's about rumors and allegations against two high school boys. I found it thought provoking.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews