Delaware Theater Company presents Ray Didinger’s Spinner

The play opens as sportswriter Gordon (Bruce Graham) recounts his first meeting and subsequent connections with Brian “Spinner” Spencer (Sean Lally). Spencer and his twin brother Byron (Lally in a dual role) grew up in a remote Canadian town, where their hockey-obsessed father Roy (Scott Greer), a logger and mechanic, was doggedly determined that Brian would play the game professionally in the National Hockey League.

Roy repeatedly communicates his NHL hopes to pal Harry (Charlie DelMarcelle), as the boys’ mother Irene (Karen Peakes) tries unsuccessfully to keep the family balance. When Brian fulfills his father’s dream and is called up to the big leagues—Toronto’s Maple Leaf team—Roy organizes the town to watch his son’s debut game on television, but the network decides to broadcast a different game. Roy accosts two TV station personnel, Stu (Dave Johnson) and Carol (Genevieve Perrier), urging them to switch back to the original coverage so he can watch his son play. As the situation escalates, it sets in motion a series of irrevocable events.

A story 50 years in the making

The character of narrator Gordon is a stand-in for playwright Didinger, whom Philadelphians and sports aficionados will recognize as a Hall of Fame sportswriter, radio legend, Emmy winner, and author of a dozen books. His previous play, Tommy and Me, was staged at DTC in 2021 as well as at other regional theaters (a special presentation of the play will run at People’s Light this October).

In 1970 Didinger was a young reporter with the Philadelphia Bulletin who “came across a story about a Toronto Maple Leafs winger named Brian Spencer … just called up from the minor leagues and about to fulfill his dream of playing in Maple Leaf Gardens.” When Roy Spencer’s actions made national news, Didinger contacted “Spinner” and secured an interview with him. He kept in touch with Spencer over his 10-year NHL career, and the player’s origin story resonated with the writer for a half-century before he wrote this play.

A crackling production

Former DTC artistic director Matt Silva has returned to its stage to craft a crackling production populated with some Philly talent at the top of their games. Parris Bradley’s striking set, filled with somewhat menacing televisions and rustic wooden constructions, evokes the play’s two worlds. It’s an apt framework for the effective projections and actual TV footage (by Colin J. Sass) that merge seamlessly with Shannon Zura’s often-moody lighting. Costumes (Jillian Warner) successfully evoke the mid-century era, as does the sensitive sound design of Christopher Colucci.

As written, the work itself has some shortcomings. Though always well-played by Greer, Roy’s histrionics are somewhat repetitive, both in urging his young son to achieve and his character’s escalating actions at the television station. And (though also well-played by Peakes) Irene’s desire for family balance sometimes seems couched in overly contemporary language.

But overall, Didinger tautly and skillfully unspools the tragic arc of this story as he toggles between the actions of the past and his narrator’s commentary in the present. And at the play’s end, the actors in tight spotlights effectively summarize each character’s fate.

The only play about hockey?

A dozen talkback post-show sessions with sports luminaries are scheduled. Among others, upcoming guests include Mark Bowden (author of the bestselling Black Hawk Down), WPVI newsman Jim Gardner, Joe and Jimmy Watson (members of the Flyers 1974-75 Stanley Cup championship team), and basketball Hall of Fame coach Herb Magee.

In his opening night post-show remarks to the enthusiastic audience, Didinger wryly said he thought this might be the only play written about hockey. But here, the game actually serves as a strong vehicle for the playwright’s consideration of a fraught father-son relationship, tellingly exploring the power—inspirational, aspirational, and corrosive—of dreams deferred as well as dreams realized.