Royal MTC play combines love and hockey

A small cast with the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre has been breaking the ice by taking its show “Hockey Mom, Hockey Dad” on a regional tour to rural communities across Manitoba and northwestern Ontario.

The cast has been on tour since Feb. 20 with an upcoming show in Brandon on Sunday at the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. The show was previously performed in communities across Westman, including Minnedosa, Deloraine, Souris and Dauphin.

The play follows two lonely single parents who meet and fall in love while watching their kids play a season of minor hockey.

The “incredibly touching and heart-warming script” is written by the late Canadian playwright Michael Melski and is about people finding community and learning how to love again, said Royal MTC director Matthew Paris-Irvine.

“You do not need to love hockey to fall in love with this story,” he said.

The romantic comedy’s plot takes place in Nova Scotia, but Paris-Irvine’s goal was to make the audience feel like this storyline could happen within the rickety bleachers at any hockey rink in the province.

“What’s been so great about the feedback we’ve gotten so far is there are so many people who see versions of themselves and the people that they love in these two characters, he said.

Devin Lowry said he can relate to his character Teddy because he grew up playing hockey and seeing many fans get rowdy in the crowd.

“Just like my character, Teddy, I grew up with a lot of these guys, where they’re just like, very expressive, very boisterous, where they aren’t afraid to speak their mind and yell at the (referee) … and just not have many repercussions,” he said with a laugh.

Most people watching hockey games have seen a parent or fan like Teddy, Lowry said.

“He’s just a larger-than-life character and he feels things so much that, like, sometimes he needs to reel it in every once in a while,” he said.

Then there’s hockey parents like Donna, who don’t see the need for that behaviour and just want their kids to have fun, Lowry added.

“She’s quite reserved, quite the opposite of Teddy, at least in the beginning,” said Gwendolyn Collins, who portrays the character Donna — a new town member who doesn’t understand all the hockey lingo.

“Audiences have been loving this show. They’ve been laughing, they’ve been crying,” she said.

Collins grew up playing field hockey, which helped prepare her for the acting role.

This is Collins’ fifth time performing with the Royal MTC and Lowry’s first.

Both actors have been rehearsing for the past two months and say it’s been an honour to bring the tour to rural theatres and high school gyms across Manitoba and Ontario.

“I really love being in a different venue every night,” Collins said, adding that no two shows are ever the same.

“Someone might say a line a little bit differently and that affects the other person’s line,” which can add the excitement of improvisation to the scene, she said.

During the show in Deloraine, Lowry accidentally tripped while walking up the stairs which brought a raw reaction of genuine concern from Collins and the audience.

“That’s never happened before, but now it is a part of the story, so we must work with it because it is live. We can’t edit that stuff out.” Lowry said.

The Royal MTC first embarked on a regional tour during the 1960-61 season with the production of “The Fourposter,” which was performed in four communities in Manitoba.

Since then, the tour has expanded to reach between 20 and 26 communities each year.

Paris-Irvine said theatre wasn’t a huge part of his life until he watched his first play as a young adult and committed his career to try breaking down barriers that prevent youth from getting involved in the art form.

“For many of these communities … the only time it’s accessible to watch professional theatre during the year is when these shows come into town,” he said.

The director hopes the play will inspire people to be the best versions of themselves and to love and accept people for who they are.

People can buy tickets for the Brandon show at the auditorium’s box office.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com