Deep-Heat Rivalry – The Other Palace Studio

Forget Strictly. Forget other sports. Forget anything involving sensible adults behaving themselves. If you want an evening of hockey sticks, hot men, filthy jokes and enough bad language to make a sailor blush, Deep-Heat Rivalry is waiting for you at The Other Palace Studio, and what a hilarious riot it is.

Trevor Ashley and Phil Scott have taken the hit ice-hockey romance Heated Rivalry, thrown it into a theatrical blender and served up the result with a large helping of camp, parody, innuendo and absolutely no shame whatsoever.

The story — such as it is — follows rival hockey hunks Shane Hollandaise and Ilya Stroganoff, played with considerable enthusiasm by Sario Solomon and Jason Leigh Winter. They may be enemies on the ice, but it isn’t long before the gloves are coming off for reasons that have very little to do with hockey.

Solomon and Winter have terrific comic chemistry, and both are clearly game for just about anything the script throws at them. And that includes showing rather more flesh than your average musical-theatre leading man. There is partial nudity from both leads, with the pair appearing in various states of undress during the evening. It’s all handled in the spirit of outrageous adult comedy, although there may be a few audience members who suddenly develop a very keen interest in hockey.

This is an 18+ show, and the script is stuffed with strong language, sexual innuendo and jokes that have clearly been written after somebody decided the phrase “too rude” was merely a challenge. The Other Palace itself warns audiences about strong language, adult themes and nudity, so nobody can claim they weren’t warned.

And then there is Ross Chisari as Puck, the gloriously camp ringmaster of this particular circus. Chisari bounds around the stage with the energy of somebody who has consumed three energy drinks and then discovered a dressing-up box. His performance gives the show its manic pulse, while his comic timing keeps the increasingly ridiculous proceedings moving.

Diana Vickers, meanwhile, is a revelation as The Diva. Quite frankly, she could probably walk onto a stage wearing a lampshade and get a laugh, but thankfully she is given rather more substantial material than that. Vickers throws herself into the parody with tremendous confidence, switching between characters and musical styles while delivering the sort of knowing performance that makes the audience feel they are all sharing the joke.

The music is another major part of the fun. There are big musical-theatre moments, pop parodies and power-ballad-style numbers, all delivered with enough genuine vocal ability to make the comedy work. Because the cast are all incredible vocalists, the musical jokes land rather better than they might do in less capable hands. The set is cleverly squeezed into the Studio, and the small space adds to the feeling that the audience has wandered into the world’s filthiest hockey dressing room.

There is no attempt to pretend this is high drama. This production knows exactly what it is doing. Yes, it is rude. Yes, it is silly. Yes, there are moments when you may find yourself wondering how on earth somebody managed to get that joke past the rehearsal room, but that is precisely the appeal. Deep-Heat Rivalry is theatre with its tongue firmly in its cheek — and occasionally somewhere considerably less respectable.

The cast attack the material with such enthusiasm that it becomes impossible not to grin along with them. Solomon and Winter bring the necessary romantic spark, Chisari keeps the lunacy on track and Vickers steals scene after scene as The Diva. So leave your dignity at the door, prepare for some very fruity language and don’t be surprised if the sight of two handsome hockey players removing their clothes becomes one of the evening’s more memorable moments.

It’s camp, rude, ridiculous and gloriously entertaining – and frankly, sometimes that’s exactly what you want from a night at the theatre.

*****   Five Stars