By David DeRocco

One of you wants to watch hockey. The other one wants to go to the theatre.  Thanks to the Garrison Little Theatre and the man credited with popularizing the goalie mask, you can enjoy both – and learn a great deal about the therapeutic benefits of knitting while you’re there.

“Jacques Plante and the Parkdale Knitting League” is a quirky new production being staged at the Garrison that weaves the true story of legendary NHL trailblazer Jacques Plante with the fictional story of a lonely housewife who falls in love with the Montreal Canadiens star. 

 “What initially caught my eye was just the title,” said director Rick Nigh, a long-time member of the Garrison theatre company. “It really intrigued me. It was really just so different than a lot of the stuff we do. The people that come to our plays, we kind of know what their tastes are. We do two productions a year that cater to their tastes, and once a year we do one for us. The play reviewing committee looked at 20 or 30 plays this year. The first person who read this said you’ve just go to read this play.”

 A winner of the Canadian National Playwriting Competition and the CBC Radio Playwrights Drama Federation Award, “Jacques Plante and the Parkdale Knitting League” combines drama, comedy and real life events to tell the tale of one of sport’s most innovative and intriguing characters and his adoring fictional fan Violet Henderson. A simple woman trapped in an unfulfilled marriage, Henderson wants more passion in her life and finds it in her love for Plante, a fellow knitter who often pulls out the needles to ease  his stress before games. Their story is reflected in both true events from Plante’s life and a series of letters written to Plant over a 20-year period. 

Given the distance separating the characters and the unique stage on which Plant performed his magic each night, the production presented both challenges and opportunity for the cast and crew according to Nigh.

 “Because it covers such a wide area you can’t have a specific kind of set, so there’s a lot of latitude for real dramatic effects,” said Nigh, who cast his friend – and fellow Ridgeway high school alumni – Chuck Jagiello in the role of Plante. “The main challenge is having to create a couple scenes where there’s actual hockey action. To create the same excitement and not being on skates has just been a real challenge to work out some of that physical stuff so it actually communicates what you want to communicate.”

 The play is being staged as part of the 30^th anniversary season of Garrison Little Theatre, an intimate 150 seat dinner theatre just off Highway 3 in Fort Erie. Unlike a lot of community theatres, the Garrison has attracted a loyal group of seasonal supporters that has allowed it to not only thrive but to also contribute back to the community.

“This is our 30^th season. I started with the group in the second season. It’s been continuously operating and self-funding. We’re a non-profit, but this year we’ve run a bit of a surplus so we’ve been able to make a $5,000 contribution to the new theatre building being built at the high school.”

The theatre's latest production is scheduled for a short run and tickets are limited. For Jacques Plante and the Parkdale Knitting League show times, visit http://www.garrisonlittletheatre.com/.