Sunny Drake's highly anticipated comedy Men Express Their Feelings, directed by Clare Preuss and presented by Downstage with the generous support of Hit & Myth Productions, premieres this week, running February 28th - March 15th in the Big Secret Theatre at Arts Commons, Calgary.
Men Express Their Feelings takes audiences behind the walls of a hockey rink dressing room to explore hockey culture, male emotional literacy, cultural relations, and sexuality from the generational perspectives of two hockey-playing teenage boys and their dedicated dads. Sentenced to the dressing room to sort out a misunderstanding, these men ultimately find friendship and teach themselves what it really means to win. As our society reaches to define and create brave spaces, and stories about hockey culture are in the national news, Men Express Their Feelings is a lighthearted way to engage with important civic concerns.
This lightning-speed comedy is written by critically-acclaimed playwright Sunny Drake, a recipient of Canada's 2019 Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize. “Sunny’s brilliantly humorous and poignant approach to important social issues is fresh and inspires the kind of thought provoking conversation that Downstage thrives on,” states Downstage’s Artistic Director Clare Preuss. “Sunny is a generous playwright with a desire to create understanding through highly entertaining theatrical experiences. It’s a pleasure to collaborate with him on this exceptional world premiere.”
Read Louis B. Hobson’s preview of Men Express Their Feelings in the Calgary Herald.
For presenters: a site-specific version of the play is also being created for intimate settings such as sports dressing rooms which will enable presenters to bring the work directly into community spaces. The Downstage production of Men Express Their Feelings will be available to tour in Summer 2021 and through the 2021-22 season and beyond.