About the Play:

Finalist for the 2014 Governor General's Award For Drama (Canadian equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize)

The Secret Mask is a full-length comedic drama by Rick Chafe. A stroke lands Ernie in a care facility. There, he meets his estranged son after forty years. Together they must find a way to make sense of their past and their future through fractured memories and muddled language.

The Secret Mask is a heartwarming and often hilarious play tells the story of an unexpected reunion of Ernie and George, an estranged father and son. George has waited 40 years to meet Ernie, the father who abandoned him as a two year old. When the phone finally rings, it's from a hospital asking George to come get his dad. Ernie's had a debilitating stroke leaving him with a speech disorder and memory loss and he has no idea who George is. While George is undeniably hurt and betrayed by the man who abandoned him as a child, Ernie can't remember his words, or where he lives. Faced with the reality of caring for a father he never knew, George struggles to make sense of their past and move on with their newly entwined future. The Secret Mask tells the story of a father and son who will do almost anything not to connect, and how a funny reconciliation happened on the way to getting even.

The Secret Mask premiered in 2011 at Prairie Theatre Exchange in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Since then the play has been successfully staged at several professional theatres across Canada, and had its U.S. premiere in 2017 at Next Act Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Cast: 1 woman, 2 men

What people say:

"…there is no escaping the forceful narrative pull of Rick Chafe's The Secret Mask." — The Winnipeg Free Press

"Complicated and compelling… Engaging, heartbreaking, tragic-comically funny… a universal — and moving—story about a child connecting with a parent." — CBC Winnipeg

"Alternately hilarious and touching… a poignant triumph." — The Ottawa Citizen

"Unpretentious, satisfying, and personal. Humble and lovely… a story that's as everyday and extraordinary as real life." — The Georgia Straight

About the Playwright:

Rick Chafe is a Canadian playwright who was born in Toronto and raised in Winnipeg. He has had over a dozen plays produced in Manitoba, across Canada, and into the U.S. He also writes for film and television, and teaches play and screen writing at school, college and university levels.