“I’m not into acting or theatre, but I feel I should receive an award for my performance in hiding my very severe depression and anxiety from nearly everyone who knows me.”
That handwritten postcard, complete with a photo of an Oscar statuette, is one of the new offerings on postsecret.com – a public art project website where people confess their secrets, anonymously, on homemade postcards.
The site has become a sensation since it started in 2005, inspiring a feature exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and six PostSecret books published by the Smithsonian Institute.
It has also inspired a stage adaptation, PostSecret: The Show – which made its Canadian premiere last year and is returning to Vancouver’s Firehall Arts Centre for another run, Feb. 17 to March 5.
Burnaby’s Kahlil Ashanti is a co-creator and director of the show and appeared in the original cast. This time out, the secrets are brought to life by Ming Hudson, Nicolle Nattrass and Sam S. Mullins.
“The show is an immersive, poignant journey through the humour and humanity of the personal stories we keep to ourselves and, on rare occasions, share with others,” a press release says. “Projected images, videos, three actors and a guitarist guide the audience through crowd-sourced narratives revealing the true stories behind the secrets.”
Firehall Arts Centre is at 280 East Cordova St. See firehallartscentre.ca for information and tickets.
