The Secret in the Wings
Presented at the Conradi Theatre, Tallahassee, April 2023
For her thesis production of the MFA in Directing degree undertaken at Florida State University, Rouba directed Mary Zimmerman’s The Secret in the Wings which takes a collection of lesser-known, dark fairytales and presents them in such a way that their telling evokes the fanning out of a wing. All but one of the fairytales is split in half and their conclusions occurs in the 2nd half of the show. Below is information from the Director’s note that featured in the program.
Once upon a time there was a little girl who watched intently as a butterfly was breaking out of its cocoon. As she observed the struggle, she wanted to help, so she began gently picking away at the chrysalis shell until the butterfly was released. However, much to her dismay, the butterfly flopped out of its cocoon and died prematurely because it was unable to fly. Unfortunately, the little girl’s act of seeming kindness had robbed the butterfly the chance to develop its wings. For it was only through the struggle that its wings could acquire their strength.
The Secret in the Wings is a coming-of-age play that deals with themes of transformation, hardship and parent/child relationships. We journey through fragmented, lesser-known fairytales that are darker than usual and that are presented using a variety of different theatrical conventions. Song, dance, mime and transformational acting reveal that the secret behind the wings is found in the struggle that occurs as a child transitions into adulthood. In order to achieve this metamorphosis, Zimmerman encourages us to embrace what is scary and difficult, because as is quoted in the play, ‘perhaps everything that frightens us, is in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.’
The children argue whether their shadows are real or just an ogre that is hiding in the wings, emphasizing the idea that we each have a hidden part of ourselves that we want to keep concealed. However, unless we expose it and deal with our shadow-selves, we can never truly move on and grow. The structure of the play, one that fans out (like a wing), also speaks to an arrested metamorphosis, with stories hanging suspended, dangling in time before they can be resolved later on, a transformation in progress.
It is our hope in the telling of these intricate tales, that every audience member is not only entertained, but also challenged. Although the darkness threatens to overwhelm us, we can choose to face it rather than run from it and by exposing the secrets that hide in the shadowy areas of our soul, we may find that we gain a new sense of freedom and strength.
A caterpillar inside a cocoon is in the dark, and it is only in these deep and painful recesses that it can fully develop into all it was meant to be. So that one day, once its wings are fully grown, it can break out of its chrysalis cage and fly into the light.