With the RBC Cup wrapping up in Vernon this weekend and the NHL playoffs entering the next phase (go Habs!), hockey fans may want to take a break from the arena, and from in front of the screen to catch The Good Game live on stage.
Presented by the Royal Canadian Legion 25 Vernon branch, Erinara Studio’s hockey-themed comedy takes the stage at the Schubert Centre Friday, May 23.
Directed by Arlene Irwin, The Good Game is a gripping yarn featuring four over-the-hill players who reunite after 30 years for a charity game.
“The Good Game is Erinara Studio’s first production, and we experienced a successful run in Kelowna last fall,” said Irwin, who also produces the show. “Audiences loved it. The curtain rose up, the puck dropped and the laughs came easy.”
Veteran actor Ray Mordan, who plays Charlie Boyd, the wisecracking goalie who may have received one too many pucks to the head, says The Good Game is a slice of pure hockey Canadiana that everyone will enjoy.
“Everyone, and certainly anyone who has ever played the game, will relate to this play. Husbands, sons, or boyfriends that play or used to play hockey will relate closely to the characters in this production, and the entire audience will enjoy the humour,” he said.
Well-paced dialogue by Quesnel playwright Roy Teed produces laughs that echo throughout the locker room as bawdy banter gets passed between flamboyant French-Canadian player Francois “Pinkie” Lavac (Henri Fournier), former team captain Zach Taylor (Brad Hull), whose NHL dream was dashed by injuries, and the team’s enforcer-turned-English-professor C.J. MacDonald (Troy Berg).
Former radio reporter Samantha Brown (Kim Fournier), a play-by-play announcer (Zyan Panagopoulis) and his press box commentator (Richard Knight) from the team’s heyday round out the roster of colourful characters
“(We’re) in the thick of the hockey playoff season, which feeds perfectly the show’s theme and atmosphere and the soundtrack is a trip down memory lane that draws on Canadian pop hits from the ‘70s that everyone will recognize and enjoy,” said Mordan.
In addition to being an evening of laughter and locker room barbs, the event is a major fundraiser for the Vernon Legion.
Doors to The Good Game open at the Schubert Centre (3503 30th Ave.) May 23 at 6:30 p.m. Curtain rises at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance at the Schubert Centre or the Ticket Seller box office in the Vernon Performing Arts Centre. Call 250-549-7469, or order at www.ticketseller.ca.
