One is a Canadian hockey player trying to make it big, in part to win the attention of his alcoholic father. The other is a Ukrainian hockey player, who wishes to bring his father to Canada and away from the war.
Both junior A players have the same goal: to make the NHL draft.
18 years old, they depart from the locker room and head over to a local bar—one that the Canadian player knows well. They sit. The Ukrainian hangs off of his seat, ready to leave at any moment, knowing that this hazing ritual could have him sent back. The other tells him to at least pretend like they should be there.
Drinking ensues—at least, for one of them—and as the Ukrainian says he has a meeting with their coach, the Canadian warns him—don’t believe all of the coach’s promises. As the former leaves, the latter, fueled by angst and passion, drunkenly rants in front of everyone else in the bar.
As his emotions calm, he feels a pain flare in his wrist.
The Draft is a two-person play written and directed by Scott Andrew Christensen and presented during the Halifax Fringe Festival at Neptune Theatre’s Imperial Studio on Argyle Street. Dalhousie Theatre grad Ian Bueltel takes on the role of William, who’s driven to make the draft by any means necessary. Andriy Shevchenko, a Ukrainian immigrant, will be playing as the Ukrainian junior A player on-stage, also named Andriy.
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The play deals with a multitude of different themes, all tied together by the friendship developing between its two main characters. Trauma, sexual abuse, familial relationships and the toxic masculinity embedded within hockey culture all factor into the lives of these two players, who are forced to wade through their numerous issues as they chase their goals.
But, as the play all but states, life isn’t as easy as being drafted first overall. Not everyone can be Nathan MacKinnon. Circumstances, injury, personal tragedy and empty promises can shatter that dream in a moment.
Drafting The Draft
Christensen first conceived of a play that would become The Draft in the late ‘90s, back when the sports world had been shaken by former NHLer Sheldon Kennedy, a survivor of sexual abuse at the hands of his junior A coach Graham James. Kennedy went public about it and rollerbladed across Canada to raise money for those impacted by sexual abuse.
Christensen, aware of the scandal as well as abuses at King’s College, gave Kennedy’s team a copy of what would become The Draft as the hockey star passed through Truro on his tour. More than two decades later, with sexual abuse still prevalent in the hockey world, Christensen brought back the concept.
“All of these things were kind of a tsunami of overwhelming feelings about our world of hockey here in Canada,” says Christensen, “combined not only with the abuse in the sports system but also abuse here at King’s College as a student. All of these feelings culminated in putting The Draft together.”
As a writer and poet who has written numerous published works, Christensen hoped to see The Draft come together in time for last year’s Fringe Festival, but plans fell through. Since then, he’s been able to sharpen the play, writing draft after draft until it became what it is today. The break also allowed him time to find two actors perfect for the roles—Bueltel and Shevchenko.
Bringing authenticity
A recent theatre grad, Bueltel has a history with hockey. Torn between the world of sport and theatre, this play gave him the chance to experience a little bit of both all at once, and his background brings authenticity to the role.
“Although I never played junior A hockey, I realized just what goes on in the locker room, the amount of pressure that hockey players are under,” Bueltel explains. “You want to do everything to win. You blame yourself. You don’t even pay attention to your injuries. You play until you can’t play anymore.”
The same could be said for Shevchenko. He has no formal training in theatre—he’s an engineer—but after moving to Canada, he found a Facebook page for a Ukrainian theatre. Hoping to connect with the local Ukrainian community, he messaged them saying he’d be willing to help. Since then, he’s played minor roles. This is his first time as a lead.
It just so happens he has a lot in common with the character he plays.
“Every problem that my character has when he arrived in Canada and wanted to be drafted, is the same problems, what I feel every day,” says Shevchenko. “The language, the communication, sociality problems. Caring about everything here just to do something illegal or something, because I know when they will catch me, they will send me back home.”
And while the play only had a short time to come together—two weeks of rehearsals before opening day on Thursday, Aug. 29—the two leads have formed a friendship through their work.
“He helped me so much after first reading. Couple of scenes we read, and he helped me a lot with how I need to say, how I need to play,” says Shevchenko.
“It’s been a pleasure working with Andriy and Scott because although Andriy said he’s never really done anything on this scale with acting, he’s really blown me away with the way he’s memorizing lines, performing. His vulnerability and honesty to the role he brings with Andrij is really fantastic,” says Bueltel.
Also a part of their small crew is assistant director Sophie Barnes, who came on late into the production but has been able to give a fresh perspective to Christensen, Bueltel and Shevchenko. An experienced director, she sees the play’s characters and themes being dealt with both sensitively and truthfully.
“I can see how carefully Scott has written all of these characters to be, you know, sympathetic and empathetic,” says Barnes. “So I think it’s a very interesting portrayal.”
The Draft kicks off its run at the Neptune Theatre’s Imperial Studio on Thursday, Aug. 29, and will be performed several times throughout the Fringe Festival: Saturday, Aug. 31, Sunday, Sep. 1, and then Sep. 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Performance times and tickets can all be found on the Halifax Fringe Festival website.
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This article appears in Aug 1-31, 2024.