Ali MacLean’s searing play about grief after gun violence, which won the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild Julie Harris Award, was presented by the guild and Theatre 40 at the Mary Levin Cutler Theatre last week.
The show marked just one day after the 5th anniversary of the Parkland shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and MacLean hoped it would be a tribute.
“There have been 3,160 mass shootings in America since Parkland, and 14 in seven days since the play. Plus the ones that will happen by the time you read this.” MacLean remarked. “Wolves At The Door explores how to move on in the aftermath of loss in a country where violence is a daily occurrence. I wanted to try to untangle the horror of gun violence in America, and the ongoing nightmare that follows the families afterward.”
Then play was produced by David Hunt Stafford and Spark Theatrical, and directed by Ann Hearn Tobolowsky. Starring as the grief stricken couple was Adam J. Smith and Ali MacLean. Also in the cast were Ben Huth, David Hunt Stafford, Christopher Wallinger, William Warren, Mark Van Kampen, John Wallace Combs, and Jayah Berment.
In addition to winning the Julie Harris award, Wolves At The Door was a finalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Creede Rep Headwaters New Play Festival, New American Voices Festival, and the Screencraft Stage Play Competition. It has had development at EST/LA, Antaeus Theatre, and The Road Theatre.
Selections are published by Smith & Kraus and Applause Books.
Ali MacLean 