PREVIEW
Playing With Fire: The Theo Fleury Story
Sept. 8 to Oct. 25
Mayfield Dinner Theatre
16615-109 Ave.
Tickets: $77 to $106. Available by phone at 780-483-4051 or online at mayfieldtheatre.ca/tickets
Since Edmonton was officially named a hub city for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, the entire region has been immersed in a hockey bubble.
Mayfield Dinner Theatre artistic director Van Wilmott, a huge Oilers fan, saw an opportunity to join the hockey fever. He reopens the dinner theatre Sept. 8 with Playing With Fire: The Theo Fleury Story.
The one-man play starring Ontario-based actor Shaun Smyth details the life of Theoren Fleury, an NHL winger who scored more than 1,000 points between 1989 and 2003. He also amassed one of the NHL’s highest number of penalties.
Standing at five-feet six-inches tall, Fleury was one of the smallest players of his generation. To survive body checks, he developed an aggressive, physical style that led to major on-ice brawls.
“He had to play in a way that made people afraid of him or he’d be destroyed. He’d play a psychological game. Because he was short, he always skated low. He would go low and appear sneaky,” Smyth said.
During retirement in 2009, Fleury co-authored a best-selling autobiography revealing his junior ice hockey coach, Graham James, sexually abused him. Charges were filed and James pleaded guilty to sexual assault.
“It’s a physically and emotionally demanding show. Sometimes at the end of a week’s run, I ask myself, ‘Have I got it?’ But sometimes, when I’m tired, I make new discoveries. When you’re tired, you’re not in control as much and new things surface,” said Smyth, who shares a remarkable likeness to Fleury in height, weight and facial features.
The 90-minute play is based on Fleury’s memoir and starts from humble roots as a young Métis boy in Manitoba determined to become a professional hockey player.
“From an actor’s point of view, Theo is a great study. There was a lot of psychological stress in his life. His parents were absent at best. His father was an alcoholic. His mother was addicted to pain killers and underwent shock treatments.”
For some, the initial impression of the play is that it is dark and morose. Smyth sees it as just the opposite.
“It’s a story of hope, of healing, of redemption. He goes as high as you can go professional and drops as low as you can personally. But he finds his way out. Despite the dark moments, he has a really good sense in the way he sees the world.”
Director Ron Jenkins, who worked with playwright Kirstie McLellan Day (she also co-authored the autobiography) in developing the script, sets the action in a small-town hockey rink that is interchangeable for an NHL rink.
“I always wanted to make it about hockey and that’s something we know so well in Canada. It is a certain national language we speak across the country. That’s what we wanted to do – tell his story,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins had known Smyth for years and admired his disciplined work ethic. It didn’t hurt that the actor resembled Fleury. Unfortunately, Smyth didn’t skate. Taking the role seriously, he hired a coach and trained five hours a day for a year learning to skate and stickhandle the puck.
“My legs and lower core became muscular. My muscle mass just got bigger. They became like a couple of pistons as opposed to a lean runner’s legs,” Smyth said.
In awe of Smyth’s dedication, Jenkins said he has the whole package as an actor.
"He works so hard. He brings the fun, the energy, the heartfelt moments and the anger. It’s not just in this role, but every time he’s on stage. He’s got a spark that is hard not to take his your eyes off.”
And Smyth gets to show off his chops on a stage covered with a 36-foot-wide and 18-foot-deep faux ice sheet surrounded by boards.
In abiding by Alberta Health Services Protocols, Wilmott has modified the theatre venue to keep everyone safe. Booths and tables with glass petitions are adjusted for two-metre-plus spacing, resulting in 35 per cent of occupancy during a show. One of the Mayfield’s big attractions, the buffet, is replaced with a plated dinner.
