I’ve seen almost every Trevor Ashley panto, from Fat Swan to The Lyin’ Queen to The White Mermaid, and Deep-Heat Rivalry is one of the best.
Ashley and his long-time writing partner Phil Scott have taken aim at Heated Rivalry, the ice hockey romance series that has half the internet in a chokehold, and turned it into an adults-only “porno panto parody on ice”.
READ MORE: Heated Rivalry season two: the new castings, and the theory behind that shaved head
It’s playing at The Other Palace Studio in London, where it has been extended to Sunday, October 11, before heading home to Australia for seasons in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
Put simply: it’s an absolute hoot.
The story (such as it is)
Rival hockey stars Shane Hollandaise and Ilya Stroganoff clash on the ice and, as anyone who’s seen the show it’s sending up will know, fall into bed off it.
Ashley promises “locker room drama, forbidden romance, parody songs” and “absolutely no knowledge of sport whatsoever”. He deliver on all four… on all fours.
Hollandaise and Stroganoff are, first of all, hilarious names, and the gags and songs built around them are two of the highlights of the night.
The cast
There are only four of them on stage, and they work harder than an entire hockey team.
Sario Solomon (Shane Hollandaise) plays the buttoned-up golden boy of the ice. He has previously appeared in Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Grease, The Addams Family, If/Then, 13 The Musical and Pacific Overtures at the Menier Chocolate Factory.
Jason Leigh Winter (Ilya Stroganoff) is Shane’s Russian cocky rival and secret flame. A West End dancer through and through, his credits include Disney’s Hercules, Moulin Rouge! (where he was dance captain), Frozen, Kinky Boots, Matilda, Wicked and Chicago – and fittingly, the international tour of The Producers.
Ross Chisari (Puck) is our host and ringmaster, steering the chaos as a nod to A Midsummer Night’s Dream and spends the show narrating and working the crowd. He’s a Aussie: a Mildura-raised WAAPA graduate who played Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys and Al DeLuca in A Chorus Line at the Sydney Opera House, made his West End debut in Moulin Rouge! and has popped up in Netflix’s Geek Girl.
Diana Vickers (The Diva) is Deep-Heat Rivalry’s secret weapon. Being an Aussie, I didn’t know much about her going in, but she is unbelievably good. British audiences know her from The X Factor in 2008, where she finished fourth, before her debut single Once and album Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree both went to No.1 in the UK in 2010.
She’s since carved out a serious stage career, from the title role in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice in the West End to Janet in The Rocky Horror Show and Shelby in Steel Magnolias.
Here she flits between a parade of divas. I have to single out her Claudia “Wink-at-Her” and her Celine Dion – and she steals every scene she’s in. I’m not the only one who thinks so: Theatre Weekly called her “the true scene-stealer”.
READ MORE: All the new faces joining season two of Heated Rivalry
The genius behind it
Ashley and Scott’s writing is as sharp as ever. It’s filthy, it’s fast and the jokes land one after the other.
Scott co-created the Wharf Revue, while Ashley has been on a phenomenal run in London, earning a 2026 Olivier nomination for playing Roger De Bris in Mel Brooks’ The Producers.
Ashley directs here too, and his comedic timing is nothing short of genius. Every pause, every glance and every stage-whispered aside is pitched perfectly.
The songs are fun and gloriously camp, pinching from the likes of Cher, Wicked‘s Defying Gravity and Olivia Newton-John’s Physical.
Fair warning: it’s strictly adults only. There’s strong language, adult themes and, yes, a little nudity.
Follow along
Special mention to the show’s Instagram account, @deepheatrivalry, which is doing a marvellous job. If you can’t make it to London, it’s the next best thing until you can see it in Australia.
How to see it
Deep-Heat Rivalry is playing at The Other Palace Studio, London, until Sunday, October 11. Tickets start from £34 and are available here.
It then heads to Australia in 2027. Tickets are on sale soon.
Whether you’re a Heated Rivalry devotee or just love a night of unashamed camp, get your tickets. You won’t regret it.