Curling tale kicks off 150th year

Writers come and go. They are truly a transient bunch. But every once in a while a work is created that speaks so deeply to the Canadian soul that it melds into our national identity.

Such is humorist W.O. Mitchell’s The Black Bonspiel of Wullie MacCrimmon running Jan. 14 to 16 at the St. Albert Curling Club in conjunction with the Continental Cup.

Directed by award-winning actor/director Maralyn Ryan, The Black Bonspiel is also the kickoff event for St. Albert’s 150th anniversary celebrations.

Throughout the process, the production ran into snags and last minute changes often dictated by outside forces. Yet Ryan continues to be the show’s biggest booster.

“It’s fun. It’s entertaining. It’s insightful and it’s the 150th anniversary of St. Albert. It’s the best way for a community so steeped in culture to celebrate each other. It’s about coming together to watch a play about curling that will leave a legacy for years to come.”

And there’s no better director in Edmonton than Ryan to handle Mitchell’s congenial humour. In 1985, as founding artistic director of St. Albert Children’s Theatre, she staged The Black Bonspiel with Mitchell introducing each show.

Ryan fondly remembers him as, “quite the character.”

“He looked like Einstein and seemed absent minded. But he had a twinkle in his eye and engaged people immediately. He always wore turtlenecks and used snuff. He was very earthy, just like the play, and there was no question he had a satirical bent.

“He loved the attention and he’d come out every night with the best punch-line and often steal an actor’s thunder. But he was always so proud of the production.”

Mitchell is a legendary storyteller with whimsical stories such as Jake and the Kid, Shoeless Joe and Field of Dreams capturing the imagination of a continent. In The Black Bonspiel, a tongue-in-cheek commentary on men’s addiction to sports, Mitchell spins a yarn about curling.

Wullie (Bob Locicero), a dour Scotsman, is a small town cobbler who lives to curl. He and his team — (Pipe (Orest Kinasewich), Malleable (Stanley Haroun), Clock (John Quinn) are so good they catch the attention of the Devil (Rob Beeston), also an avid curler.

The Devil promises Wullie he’ll win the Brier if upon his death he’ll come curl in hell. The broom-waving fanatic makes the Faustian deal — but with a proviso that his soul will be saved if the Shelby rink can beat the Satanic crew of Judas Iscariot (Mark McGarrible), Macbeth (Corey Rogers) and Guy Fawkes (Joshua Schilds). Soon the whole town gets involved including the Preacher (Rita Jensen) and Mrs. Brown (Mary-Ann Iles).

“This is not a morality play,” Ryan says. “W.O. lays it out and everybody decides how it affects them. Everybody sells out. Everybody cheats to get their own way. He says that’s how we survive. That is the world we’ve created, but it’s not black and white.”