Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)
If you'd told me a Canadian hockey romance TV show would end up as one of the funniest, filthiest, and somehow, most genuinely touching nights I've had at the theatre this year, I'm not sure I'd have believed you. That's exactly what Deep-Heat Rivalry is: a full-throttle panto parody of Heated Rivalry, and it is sexy and ridiculous in equal measure.
Distinctly British, Despite Its Canadian Roots
Heated Rivalry is a Canadian show, but the humour in this parody is unmistakably British. The jokes lean hard into British politics, British TV and pop culture, and the cast even bring on cameo-style turns as Claudia Winkelman and Graham Norton. It shouldn't work as well as it does, but it means the show translates brilliantly for a local audience, even if you've never so much as heard of the series it's spoofing. Though don't admit it if you haven't seen the show or face the ridicule of the shows emcee.
More Talent Than You'd Expect
Going in, I expected fun, silly, and a bit smutty. What I did not expect was how genuinely good the singing was. Every single member of the cast can sing, properly sing, which elevates the whole thing miles beyond your average parody show. The songs themselves are parodies of well-known songs, including a certain Russian pop hit, with rewritten lyrics tailored to the show.
The two leads play Shane Hollandaise (Sario Solomon) and Ilya Stroganoff (Jason Leigh Winter), the central pairing from the TV show, but for me the real scene-stealer was Puck played by Ross Chisari, the show's emcee, and a gorgeous double pun. He's literally a hockey puck. He's also a cheeky nod to the trickster narrator from A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Then there's Diana Vickers, a British pop culture name in her own right, who bounces between bringing forth multiple female characters and a whole cast of hilarious impersonations, including the aforementioned Claudia Winkelman and beloved Canadian icon Celine Dion. To top it off, amid all that chaos, she's given a genuine, full-throated ballad. Having a real ballad land in a show this camp and silly is such a bold choice, and it completely paid off.
The Whiplash That Makes the Show
Here's the thing about Deep-Heat Rivalry: for most of the runtime, it is extremely funny, extremely silly, and extremely naked. You couldn't have a show based on Heated Rivalry and not show off the casts ASSets, but underneath all of that, it's still a love story, and a sincere one.
We went from absolutely killing ourselves laughing one minute to genuinely going "oh, that's actually really sweet" the next. That tonal whiplash is what gives the show its depth. It's not just a horny panto, it's a horny panto with a heart.
Audience Participation Done Right
I've genuinely never seen audience participation used this well in a show. I want to believe the audience member they pulled up during the Sunday matinee was a completely random pick, because that's exactly what makes the whole thing feel like magic, and that chemistry was off the charts.
Puck becomes Scott Hunter, or more accurately Francois Arnaud, completely dropping the characters name from the TV show and going straight for actors, and Scott- sorry, Francois, needs his Kip, described as the worlds most boring twink, which had me in stitches. Cue the audience participation. So, twinks beware, and if audience participation isn't your thing, make yourself as invisible as possible during this section of the show.
Scrappy Staging, Cleverly Used
Let's be honest about the budget: this is a small show in a small, black-box studio space, with a stage barely a foot off the ground. But what they lack in budget, they more than make up for in cleverness. Props and furniture are kept minimal, a table, a hockey net, but everything gets used to its absolute fullest. That same hockey net, for instance, doubles up as the counter of Kips smoothie shop and also a shower cubicle. I won't go too far into the staging details, because I think some of it deserves to be a surprise, but it's a genuinely impressive case of doing a lot with a little.
The costumes, on the other hand, are a real highlight: hockey jerseys, criminally short shorts, a suitably "sexy Midsummer Night's Dream" look for Puck, and several costume changes for Diana Vickers to match her ARSEnal of impressions.
The Finale
I'm not going to spoil this. What I will say is that the finale pulls in a surprise cameo, an impression of another beloved figure from queer television, and a musical number to really drive the properly heartwarming gut-punch home, if it lands for you the way it landed for me, expect to feel it.
My friend and I left the theatre grinning ear to ear. Deep-Heat Rivalry is silly, filthy, unexpectedly moving, and built on genuine talent and does such a fun job in bringing together a community of people who, like the creators, fell in love with a small budget, queer hockey show from Canada.
Deep-Heat Rivalry is currently running at The Other Palace Studio in London until the 11th of October, and given how short that run is, I'd urge you to go and catch it while you still can. Shows this good deserve a life beyond a few weeks in a small studio space.
@outwithrebecca Deep-Heat Rivalry: Simply The Best Read my review of this must see musical parody - www.outwithrebecca.co.uk! #deepheatrivalry #heatedrivalryparody #westend #theatrereview ♬ original sound - Rebecca
This show has now concluded it's run.
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