Hockey: Entertainment. Nothing more than an aggressive sports game. A million dollar industry. History. Culture. Your life…. No matter how you view it, the indisputable fact is that it is an inherent part of Canada. Hockey night at the Puck and Pickle Pub exemplifies just that fact…
A superbly funny comedy, this currently running fringe show centres around two Canadian hockey fanatics enjoying two favourite Canadian pastimes: beer and hockey. Where? You guessed it- The Puck and Pickle Pub- the best hockey bar in the world. Why Puck? Well, obviously, because it’s a great place for watching hockey. Why pickle? Good question…
Hockey fan or not it’s hard not to be charmed by the energetic actors emanating the atmosphere of a pub in which the crowd is enjoying a particularly intense game of hockey- at 5:00am may I add. They manage to successfully depict a room full of people, buzzing with energy and palpable tension.
The two actors, John Paterson and Ryan Gladstone, confidently and competently enact scenes depicting characters from around the bar ranging from drunks, cougars, nerds, russians, to a couple on a first date. They impersonate famous (and laughable) Sportcasters and even… giant panda bears.
For any Canadian hockey fan that enjoys the odd bit of theatre- or any Canadian theatre goer who enjoys the odd bit of hockey- I highly recommend this one. Ladies- it’s one to bring the boyfriends too. Even though about 90% of the stats, figures and names sailed right over my head- I enjoyed myself immensely.
The funniest and my favourite roles portrayed were simply themselves- two actors who happen to be huge hockey fans who come up with an idea to write a play about hockey. At times they slip up lines, forget which characters they are currently supposed to be playing, and improvise with the audience- all of which are hilariously honest and interactive moments. They said that when writing the play they would need really good actors to play all the roles- well guys- you found them.
