Secret Ingredients is a theatre project created by Keely O’Brien that uses cake to explore the intricacies of human relationships. Leading up to the performance, the public is invited to consider messages that they find too difficult to express directly to someone in their life, and submit them via an online form. These messages are translated into beautiful, subversive, and delicious cakes, which are delivered to the intended recipients as an edible form of communication. The project culminates in a live performance and cake tasting, inspired by the cakes and the stories behind them. Like overhearing tantalizing gossip at a neighbouring cafe table, Secret Ingredients satisfies a human itch to peek into intimate and relatable details of other people’s lives, while also inviting reflection on our own unspoken feelings. The project pairs sweet flavours with challenging messages: the dark chocolate of embarrassment, the citrus zest of annoyance, the tart cherry jam of grief. Secret Ingredients takes a playful and intentionally inefficient approach to the challenges of honest communication, and provides a window into the quirks, nuances, joy and heartache of real relationships.
Audience Role
Cakes are served to the audience as part of the show; eating the cake served is optional. The cakes are vegan, contain gluten and nuts, and may contain trace amounts of dairy and eggs.
Ages: 13 +
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3
Events
1
Years on EI
About Keely O’Brien
Keely O'Brien is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice incorporates handmade objects with innovative theatre creation. Devoted to a thoroughly DIY process, Keely’s work includes experimental performance, imaginative ephemera, and interactive experiences. She often creates collaborative projects with community members who may not consider themselves artists, and invites the public to participate in unusual meaning-making experiences. Keely is Co-Artistic Director of Popcorn Galaxies, a theatre company with a focus on unconventionally structured, site-specific, and audience-activated performance. She holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from Simon Fraser University, and is a self and family-taught visual artist. She lives in Richmond, BC, on unceded territories of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ speaking peoples.