By Shelby Tansil
DARYL: Are you sure you’re not here
for a reason? This is stupid.
HANK: Wait... I ah... I...
DARYL: What?
HANK: I want someone to talk to.
You were giving me company.
-From Bryant Hernandez’s play, Tricks
It
is exactly 10:48 pm on a Saturday. In a little over an hour, I will commence my
weekly ritual. Midnight between Saturday evening and Sunday morning is a
special time for me. It’s a time for reflection, connecting and late-night
chuckles. Some days I don’t make it until midnight—my roommates don’t call me
Grandma for nothing—but when I do stay up that late, I know I will be rewarded
with a worthwhile gift. How do I know this? Because every Saturday around 12
am, PostSecret delivers a fresh batch of secrets right to my computer screen.
For
those of you who haven’t been introduced to the world of PostSecret, here’s how
the official website describes it: “PostSecret is an ongoing community art
project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a
postcard” (Warren). Since 2005, people have been sending their secrets to
creator Frank Warren for the project. After receiving bundles of anonymous
confessions, he selects some of the most intriguing ones and posts them on his
blog. Ten years in and PostSecret is still thriving. Here are some samples of
secrets from the project:
Sometimes
the secrets are heartbreaking. Sometimes they make
me choke on my drink with
laughter. Sometimes they repulse me with their attitudes or images. Sometimes
they are in unfamiliar languages or inscribed in codes I can’t decipher. But I
always get something from my weekly ritual with PostSecret. It’s a
nontraditional form of intimacy: the intimacy of a stranger. The experience
excites and alarms. It brings comfort and discomfort in equal measure. Being
able to peek into the deepest crevices of another human heart and seeing
reflections of your own darkest secrets is liberating. However, it’s also a
reminder that almost everyone you have met or
ever will meet has secrets that
you will never discover. This can be a frightening thought when you take into
account some of the darker, crueler secrets that have been posted on the
website.
As
much as I love PostSecret, I also wonder what makes people decide to share
their secrets with total strangers instead of with the ones who love them the
most. In theory, it makes more sense to share the most intimate details of your
life with the people you have intimate relationships with. So why do some
people choose to divulge their deepest secrets to strangers? Why do they turn
from the familiarity of friends and family to the anonymity of an unfamiliar
face? What is gained and lost in this intimate exchange between strangers?
These
are questions that Bryant Hernandez explores in his play, Tricks. The play focuses
on the meeting of two male strangers on a secluded park bench. Although the
conversation starts out with talk of the weather and sandwiches, it quickly
escalates and ends with both men revealing some of their deepest secrets.
Hernandez uses vivid details and distinct dialogue to breathe life into his
characters. The plot is simple, but the complexity and authenticity of his
characters is admirable. Through these complicated individuals, Hernandez
investigates what factors might lead someone to share intimate life details
with a total stranger. He also considers the impact that turning to a stranger
has on the secret teller’s other personal relationships. Tricks demonstrates that the intimacy of a
stranger may be temporarily comforting, but it doesn’t necessarily provide a
long-term solution for dealing with our secrets.
My
experiences with PostSecret have lead me to this same conclusion. The beauty of
PostSecret is that it makes
people feel less alone, less burdened by what they
might have thought was a unique issue or emotion. The project is great for
momentarily relieving shame, fear and worries. But the biggest issue with this
method of secret sharing is the very thing that makes it desirable: anonymity.
Because viewers are strangers we will probably never encounter in real life, we
can tell our secrets to them without fear of major embarrassment or
repercussions. The downside is that we don’t receive support from those who
love us most. PostSecret submissions receive responses in the form of Internet
comments and emails posted publicly on Frank Warren’s website. When our
submissions are posted, we receive support from strangers but not from friends
and family. The support of strangers seems a little hollow when I compare it to
what I could theoretically get from the people who care for me on a day-to-day
basis. An article about PostSecret from USA
Today expands on this idea:
Evan Imber-Black, a family
therapist and author of The Secret Life of Families, says telling
secrets has no meaning except in the context of family relationships.
"We live in a time where
people have the mistaken idea that you tell a secret to the multitudes on TV —
and move on," she says. "But opening a secret is just the first step.
(Posting on PostSecret) might offer some measure of relief, but I'm not sure
how long it lasts. When a secret opens, it usually takes time and relational
work to get a new equilibrium." (Puente)
It’s
not always easy or realistic to share our deepest secrets with our families and
friends. In these situations, turning to the intimacy of a stranger might be
the best option.
But perhaps the most valuable thing people can gain from this
intimate exchange with a stranger is the courage to one day share these same
secrets with someone they love.
Have
you ever revealed a secret to a complete stranger? How did you feel afterward?
Does that feeling differ from how you feel when you tell secrets to a close
friend or family member? We would love to hear from you! Comment below and tweet us at @Rianttheatre!
Follow the conversation at #strawberryoneactfestival.
TRICKS will be
performed in the Riant Theatre’s night of one- act plays titled, LOVERS,
STRANGERS & WHAT SOME PEOPLE CALL FAMILY on the following dates:
August
13th (Thursday) at 8:30pm
August
18th (Tuesday) at 8:30pm
August
23rd (Sunday) at 8:30pm
You can
also purchase TRICKS in the anthology, THE BEST PLAYS FROM THE
STRAWBERRY ONE-ACT FESTIVAL: VOLUME ONE, which can be found online at:
Works
Cited
Puente, Maria. "Blogger
Gives Dark Secrets the First-class Treatment." USA TODAY. USA
TODAY,
Gannett Co. Inc., 14 Mar. 2006. Web.
Warren,
Frank. Web log post. PostSecret. WordPress.com, n.d. Web.
***
P.S. If
you’re interested in learning more about PostSecret or sending in a secret of
your own, here is some useful information:
Address to mail your postcard
to: 13345 Copper Ridge Rd
Germantown, Maryland
20874
The Riant Theatre's Strawberry Theatre Festival
is now accepting submissions for Full Length Plays (between 55 - 90
minutes) and Musicals (not to exceed 120 minutes), and Short Plays (40
minutes - 50 minutes). Plays selected for the festival can perform
between 3 - 5 performances and elect to share a percentage of the box
office by paying a theatre usage fee between $1 - $9 per ticket to
receive 10% - 100% share of the box office. To obtain an application
email us at RiantTheatre@gmail.com. The deadline to submit an application is February 28, 2016. Late Submissions deadline is March 15, 2016. The participation fee for the STF is $400 for plays received by February 28, 2016 and $500 for plays received after February 28, 2016. The participation fee for Short Plays is $350. All submissions are done by email.
