PUCK BUNNIES
1/2 out of 5 Stage 12, Varscona Theatre
Being a junior or senior hockey player in a small community can bring with it a certain amount of celebrity.
And with celebrity comes with it certain hangers on. Groupies, if you will, or, as they’re known by some, ‘puck bunnies’ — not to be confused with rodeo groupies (buckle bunnies) or the ladies of lacrosse (derisively called lacrossetitutes.)
In the case of Puck Bunnies, the latest from Fringe crowdpleasers Guys in Disguise, we have Tammy, the leader of the group, who’s dating the captain, but is finding it hard to get back in the game after having a baby she seems to have intentionally planned, but doesn’t really want.
It (the baby, as the girls call it) is throwing a bit of a wrench in her normal social life.
Meanwhile, there’s Tonya, the caustic, catty hairdresser, who’s having sex-life struggles with her goalie boyfriend, who seems to always be doing shirtless pelvic stretches with his male roommate. Whatever could be wrong?
Finally there’s Tina, the slowwitted but well-meaning new member of the group, whose boyfriend either moved out in the middle of the night, or who’s back in jail.
Darrin Hagen and Trevor Schmidt have crafted an uproariously funny script, and give equally hilarious performances as Tammy and Tonya, with Schmidt getting the best oneliners and insults to dish out.
But the play also effortlessly deals with sensitive issues (one of the team’s players is accused of assaulting former Bunny Angela).
Jason Hardwick, who brings a naive quality to Tina, also serves as the play’s moral centre.
The trio make for a theatrical scoring line that’s tough to beat.