"The Wolves:" Interview with Cast Member Sarah Bray

Lace up for the 2025–26 season opener with "The Wolves," Sarah DeLappe’s gripping and fast-paced play, coming to life October 3–5 at the UB Center for the Arts! Tickets are $10–$25 — don’t wait: https://www.ticketmaster.com/search?q=The+Wolves+Black+Box+Theatre

Set entirely on an indoor soccer field, "The Wolves" follows a tight-knit girls’ high school soccer team as they navigate six weeks of practices, pressures, and personal revelations. From heated debates about world events to raw moments of vulnerability, this play captures the unfiltered voices of young women coming of age in a chaotic world.

Meet junior acting major Sarah Bray, who takes on the role of “#7” — a bold, sharp-tongued striker known for her fearless attitude and biting sarcasm. She’s unapologetic, outspoken, and always ready to stir the pot. 

What year are you in at UB and what is your major and intended degree?

I’m a Junior BFA Acting major and I intend to get my bachelors in Acting. 

What made you want to be an actor? What do you love about it?

I’ve been performing on stage since I was 3 years old, when my momma enrolled me in dance classes. My first large role was in elementary school, when I played Simba in “The Lion King.” I continued to perform throughout grade school and decided in my sophomore year of highschool that acting is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I found a sense of comfort in being uncomfortable on stage. There’s something so beautiful about stepping into someone else’s life and making it your own for the duration of the play/scene/etc; I’ve always loved the community that theater brings, in the industry as a whole, but also in each production I’ve been in. Every single production I’ve done has brought me some of the best friendships I have, along with some of the knowledge I cherish the most. 

You play a character referred to as “#7” in the script, and all the female soccer players in the play are known only by their numbers. Why do you think the playwright Sarah Delappe decided to present the characters this way?

This show is about a group of girls and the things they go through in high school for sure, but it’s also hugely about the team. Identifying every player by their number rather than their name until the end of the show removes the possibility to assume things about them based on their name. It also reminds us how deep-rooted soccer is in all of these girls’ upbringings. Especially with 7, I found that soccer is truly everything to her, and she often likes being addressed by her number. Since she’s so confident in her abilities to play well, it gives her something to focus on outside the struggles of being a teenage girl. 

Without divulging too much plot, what are the main challenges and / or triumphs for your character? What is her journey and / or how does it tie in with what the other characters experience?

7 bases most of her life around soccer, playing indoor and outdoor, so she is almost always in season. At some point, she struggles with not playing in the game and becomes very disappointed at the world. She deals with a great amount of loss throughout the show which seems to knock her down a few steps. It’s interesting to see how she never loses the kickass “I can do anything” attitude though. 

What’s been the most important thing you’ve learned, either about yourself, or about acting, (or both), from participating in this production?

I’ve learned how to find the similarities and differences that I may have with a character I’m playing. Those differences are often easy to find, and easy to work with since they are new, atypical movements/actions for me and therefore do not weigh on my psyche. The similarities can be a bit different, and I found a fair few of them when dissecting 7’s journey. There’s a couple of themes that she deals with that I once dealt with as well, and I had to find a way to differentiate acting from reality in these moments, otherwise I found myself emotionally distraught after rehearsal concluded. I’m very grateful to have learned this now, among my cast mates who were also dealing with this struggle, so that the next time this occurs I will be better prepared. 

The cast recently accompanied Professor Sugarman in attending a UB Bulls Womens Soccer Club game as a ‘field trip’ and research. What did you learn from attending the game, and how familiar were you with soccer before joining the cast?

I had little to no knowledge on soccer coming into the rehearsal process. Other than an ex-boyfriend who played indoor for a couple years, I was lost. Going to the game really aided me in understanding the structure of a soccer game, but it especially aided in painting a picture of Soccer Mom at our games. Seeing even Lana get pumped up when our team was winning allowed me to envision 14’s mom cheering us on so loudly at every single game, which helped me a lot in emotional preparation for the final scene. 

It seems like women’s sports are more popular on a national level than even five or 10 years ago. If you agree, why do you think this is so?

Women’s sports are definitely more popular now than they were years ago, and I think that has a lot to do with the rise of feminism and the recognition that there are things women can do, that men cannot. I still hope to see more growth in women’s sports though; I would love to go to another women’s soccer game and hope to see the stands packed.

What do you like to do or not do on show performance days to prepare to be onstage?

I spend a lot of time listening to music that my character would listen to, to and from rehearsal, to and from class, in the shower, as much as I can. I really try to pick apart the lyrics and live in them as a 16-year-old girl would. I remind myself that this is not reality when I’m off stage, so that when I am on stage, I can live in that reality for 90+ minutes without it having an effect on my psyche. 

What makes “The Wolves” unique and / or important, in your opinion, if this is how you feel about it.

I think the style of the script is the most unique thing about “The Wolves.” The overlapping, conversational style of the script allows for the action on stage to feel very natural and real, while still being heightened in the manner that most theater is. The absence of names for the characters is also unique. When first reading the script I wondered if audience members would struggle to know who is who without names, but I actually found that in this show, because they are all wearing jerseys, it’s much easier to address them by the number on their top.

What else might potential patrons like to know about the show?

There’s a lot going on in each scene, often conversations overlap; this is done purposefully. Take in the things you do hear; don’t harp on the lines that you don’t; you’ll still get the story clearly. This show ranges from awkward silence to screaming chaos; just follow along for the ride; let it move you. I hope everyone leaves this show thinking “holy shit.”