Fleury drama scores blazing triumph
Granted it’s a different sport, but Raging Bull On Ice might be one way to describe Playing With Fire: The Theo Fleury Story, a furious tear through the remarkable life of the hockey legend, played with volcanic brio by Shaun Smyth.
The similarities to the Scorsese classic don’t stop at the salty language, which sometimes sounds like an aria delivered by Joe Pesci after he’s hit his thumb with a hammer: there’s also the dramatic trajectory, which takes us from the heights of sporting glory to the depths of self-loathing and self-destruction, with perhaps a glimmer of redemption at the end of a long, dark tunnel.
And it’s all played out on ice — well, actually a synthetic substitute, which is apparently even more difficult to skate on than the real thing. That makes Smyth’s zippy, seemingly effortless prowess on the skates, as he delivers the dramatic goods in this one-man show, all the more impressive.
For those not acquainted with the most basic tenets of hockey lore (mea culpa), the subject of this award-winning production from Saskatoon’s Persephone Theatre is the diminutive Métis dynamo who spectacularly steered the Calgary Flames to the Stanley Cup, and the national team to Olympic glory. It plays at the Centaur till Oct. 29.
But even those with zero interest in the game will most likely be familiar with Fleury’s shocking revelations a few years back: as a teenage hopeful, he was the victim of relentless sexual abuse at the hands of his coach, Graham James.
Kirstie McLellan Day’s play, adapted from the best-selling autobiography she helped Fleury write, could have been a gruelling two-hour descent into Fleury’s personal hell, which included drug abuse, gambling addiction and suicidal impulses. But Smyth plays it with so much infectious energy and conspiratorial playfulness with the audience that he manages to draw laughs — albeit uneasy ones — from even the
darkest moments.
Hockey enthusiasts might respond with more interest than some of us to the welter of facts and figures about transfers and playoffs and the like with which Smyth regales us — there were indeed quite a few delighted whoops of recognition on opening night (which was attended by Fleury himself ). The downside to all these details, though, is that they begin to get in the way of dramatic impetus.
But there’s always an arresting highlight to keep things from getting too in-the-weeds: an infamous pitched battle between Fleury’s junior team and their Soviet counterparts, for instance. And, of course, the Flames’ victory over the Habs at the Forum in 1989.
Monologues can be a tough sell, particularly those that threaten to overstay their welcome beyond the two-hour mark. But the sustained brilliance of Smyth’s performance under Ron Jenkins’s direction helps keep things lively and varied, and it all comes to an emotionally devastating payoff in the final stretches.
The design team, too, makes sure that this is anything but a sparse theatrical experience. Apart for the arresting spectacle of an ice rink on the Centaur stage, video projections provide constant, often striking commentaries on Fleury’s life.
A strong opener for Centaur’s new season, Playing With Fire is an intriguing match with The Hockey Sweater musical, which opens at the Segal next week and offers a more family-friendly, decidedly less hellish take on childhood memories.