Ottawa Fringe: No More Secrets a Powerful Mediation of Generations
How generations feel and express trauma has certainly evolved in the past thirty years; young people now have a digital framework through which they can build support networks and group testimonies. Modern youth have built a veritable empire through social media and other platforms wherein they can expose their abusers and unite in strength with fellow victims; how we societally tackle abuse of power and abuse of position has changed, to say the least. Spare Change Theatre’s No More Secrets is an awe-inspiring mediation between the vitality of today’s youth and the haunting verbal transcripts of past survivors, with a fantastic cast and an impactful, ethically-constructed script.
No More Secrets is a verbatim piece of documentary theatre by Jake Hamilton, sourcing its language from news transcripts, CBC articles, and survivor testimonies. Few liberties are taken emotionally; the words in the order they are presented are largely the words spoken by the realities behind the figures. This production generally has a focus on the language and weight of the material rather than the physical manifestations of these words’ implications, but this is not to the detriment of the piece. The use of silhouette is a marvelous semiotic device that shrouds Bell High School’s victims, and, more importantly, quietly asserts that the phenomena presented in No More Secrets could occur anywhere and to anyone. Creating shadows out of the actors onstage results in anonymity, a damning component of the scandal outlined in the snappy and concise narrative.
Each actor delivers a personal and chilling performance; there are no weak links in this cast, which is oh-so-important when dealing with material that demands such understanding of its emotional weight. Some directorial choices work extremely well (as in, admirably beyond the years of No More Secrets’ creative team). Sections of cacophony make us feel the internal chaos of trauma and its subsequent witch hunt for a perpetrator. Repeated sections of text throughout make the issue at hand feel unbeatably cyclical, imposing a dense sense of helplessness on the figures onstage, and indeed upon the audience. No More Secrets is not a call to action; the damage has been done, the lives ruined. No More Secrets asks simply that we share its story; “we are not going to keep their secrets anymore,” and in making that promise, we commit to a safer, more accepting, and more empathetic future, even if soundtracked by the bone-chilling presence of an out-of-tune high school band on the departure from the theatre.
No More Secrets runs through June 22. For full scheduling, visit www.ottawafringe.com/schedule. No More Secrets is in Venue 4 – LabO.