postsecret

by Kristi Andrus, guest blogger

postcard

All of the stories featured in PostSecret: The Show were true. I didn’t expect that. I guess I understood the concept, but still thought the production would have embellished or taken creative license or something. Huh, I guess that truth is stranger than fiction.

Some of the secrets and stories were funny, some were poignant, some were disgusting, some were heartbreaking, some were ironic, and some were heartwarming. The ones that moved me were people so touched by other people’s secrets that they responded to offer camaraderie, support, even money. The stories of people saving voicemails of their loved ones to listen to after they died were relatable and hard to hear. The postcard I’m not sure I’ll ever forget said: “Everyone who knew me before 9/11 believes I’m dead.”

Why?! Why would he/she do that to people that love them? To people that know them and cared about them and now mourn them? Was it so bad? Is he/she escaping something? It’s got to be made into a book, right? Someone please take that secret and run with it. Write the book, option the rights to a movie, who knows where it could go?

The best parts:

The actors – There were only three, Maria Glanz, TJ Dawe, and Kerry Ipema. They were fantastic and believable. It was so much fun to see them embody the different people from the postcards.

The start – “Listen. Don’t Judge. Use a voice of compassion. Build rapport.” Relevant and riveting from the get-go. It could have been a mantra.

The stats – I pee in the shower is the most common secret mailed in. Tell me who feels the need to confess that? I wish I had someone to share my secrets with is the second most common secret. That’s sad. Vulnerability is powerful y’all. Share with a friend and watch your relationship evolve. You don’t have to share your biggest, worst, darkest secret, maybe start small and see how it goes.

The timing – “In 2004, nothing went viral.” Timing, ladies and gentleman, is everything, and ideas, businesses, and relationships are made and broken on that alone. This concept probably wouldn’t work in today’s world, but it worked when it launched and it’s still going strong. Check out the blog to see how it’s expanded.

The instructions – Take a postcard, or two. Tell your secret anonymously. Stamp and mail the postcard. Your secret can be a regret, fear, betrayal, desire, confession, or childhood humiliation. Reveal anything – as long as it is true and you have never shared it with anyone before. Simple and powerful.

If you missed the show, I’m sorry, it was a great night out. To the fellow audience members with really great laughs, thank you for being a delightful soundtrack to the show.

See you at Lone Tree Arts Center for the next one!

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By Joy Carletti, guest blogger

If you are unfamiliar with PostSecret, you may want to visit the website that spurred the show now. But you should only do so if you have some time to go down an internet rabbit hole. Reading PostSecret is like overhearing a truly intriguing snippet of conversation but knowing you can’t ever have the full back story. The site was started in 2005 and bills itself as “an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard.” There’s something truly magical about browsing through the postcards. The reader feels a sense of familiarity and camaraderie with the writer even if the situation is new. The secrets range from mundane to scandalous, heartwarming to heart-wrenching, silly to downright horrifying. The site has received nearly 800 billion page views over the years, making it clear that people long for a window into all of these feelings.

PostSecret: The Show is looking to heighten these emotions by bringing secrets to life on stage. With the help of three actors and a guitarist, PostSecret: The Show will immerse the audience in a new level of storytelling. The actors will share anonymous secrets, both from postcards sent in by website readers and from audience members. Then they’ll flesh out the stories behind the secrets. What stories might emerge? It will depend completely on what’s shared on postcards that night, as this show changes from city to city, with each new audience supplying new secrets. If the postcards sent into the website are any indication, the show could run the gamut all the way from “I ate my co-worker’s yogurt” to “I’m having an affair with my co-worker’s wife.” Possibly relatable, possibly scandalous, definitely worth seeing!

PostSecret: The Show is at Lone Tree Arts Center for one night only on February 8 at 7:30pm. Don’t miss this opportunity to peer into other people’s lives – and maybe to share your secrets too! Tickets are available here.