-Digital-Version-453x701.png){kind=spacer}
The Secret in the Wings
By Mary Zimmerman
Directed by Anna Griffith
March 19–28, 2026
UFV Theatre proudly presents The Secret in the Wings, the second production of the 2025–2026 season. This imaginative and visually rich play will be performed at two locations: the UFV Abbotsford Performance Studio and the Chilliwack Cultural Centre’s Rotary Hall Studio Theatre.
Presented by the UFV School of Creative Arts Acting and Production classes, The Secret in the Wings is a masterwork of whimsy by Mary Zimmerman. Drawing from lesser-known fairy tales, the play explores the darker, stranger, and more dangerous undercurrents of childhood through vivid storytelling, inventive staging, and a playful ensemble approach.
Tickets
Abbotsford Performances (March 19, 20 & 21) - Purchase through Eventbrite
• $5 Students
• $10 General Admission
Chilliwack Performances (March 26, 27 & 28) - Purchase through Chilliwack Cultural Centre
• $10 Students
• $15 General Admission
Venues
UFV Abbotsford – Performance Studio (D105)
Building D, Room 105
33844 King Road, Abbotsford
Chilliwack Cultural Centre – Rotary Hall Studio Theatre
9201 Corbould Street, Chilliwack
Performance Dates & Times
Abbotsford – UFV Performance Studio (D105)
Opening Night
• Thursday, March 19 at 7:00 PM
Regular Performances
• Friday, March 20 at 7:00 PM
• Saturday, March 21 at 2:00 PM
Chilliwack – Rotary Hall Studio Theatre
• Thursday, March 26 at 7:00 PM
• Friday, March 27 at 7:00 PM
• Saturday, March 28 at 2:00 PM
About the Director
Anna Griffith
Q. Please describe your experience in theatre and elaborate on your responsibilities as the director for the forthcoming production.
"My background is in dance and physical theatre, so movement plays a prominent role in all my work. I am interested in how physicality can create a score alongside the text. Sometimes it highlights subtext or power dynamics, sometimes it gives voice to what cannot be said, and sometimes it creates a counter-narrative.
As director, I shape the artistic vision that I share with the rest of the team, and I translate that vision into a rehearsal process with the actors. Mary Zimmerman created this script with ensemble of Lookingglass Theatre; they were central to the devising process, exploring how they would re-tell these stories and what they wanted to emphasize in each one. I have tried to stay true to that spirit in my approach to rehearsals. As an ensemble, we are making choices about the themes, how we tell each story, and how we solve problems together."
Q. What made this play the selection for this year's production?
"The Secret in the Wings was selected because it has so much inherent physicality, which fits beautifully with my love of movement-based theatre. The play adapts many lesser-known, deeply disturbing fairy tales and weaves them together through a non-realistic, dreamlike structure. These are not simple children’s stories, and they are definitely not Disney. They are tools that help us sort through trauma, violence, memory, grief, and unsettling moral issues. They allow us to name and navigate fears that might otherwise feel overwhelming.
Structurally and thematically, this play offers students a fantastic challenge. It demands imagination, ensemble work, and courage to tackle difficult material."
Q. What sets this production apart, which performance techniques will be used, and how will multimedia be included?
"Our production is ensemble-based storytelling, with each performer playing multiple roles. Except for one, the stories are not told in full. We hear the first half of each one as the stories fan outward, and then we hear their conclusions. Like dreams or memories, the stories interrupt and cut across one another, allowing us to see patterns and echoes. The meaning becomes visible when you look at them as a whole.
Stylistically similar to feminist playwright Caryl Churchill, Zimmerman uses layered, interrupted text, and asks for the fantastical to be brought to life on stage. Ours is not a realistic portrayal of the world. It is a place where the creepy things in basements are used to tell the stories in an act of collective imagination between the performers and audiences. There is movement, dancing, puppetry, and song. It is rambunctious, and funny, and poignant, and terrible, and shows us how resilient we are. We embrace the theme of transformation and make it visible to the audience as we shift and blend between characters and stories."
Q. What are the intended key messages or insights that you hope audience members will gain from this production?
"Transformation is an anchoring theme in our production. These stories confront dangerous, haunting, and traumatic things but they do not leave us there. They insist that resilience is possible. They suggest that when we name what frightens us, when we move toward it rather than away from it, something shifts.
I hope audiences leave recognizing that fairy tales are not necessarily childish or escapist. Some are survival stories. Some help us to see how oppression operates and how gender and power intersect. Most help us to metabolize what feels unbearable. They teach us that fear often guards what is vulnerable and that transformation requires courage.
In a time when so much feels uncertain or destabilizing, this production reminds us that change, even when it is painful or unwanted, can lead to growth."
Q. What roles do students fill in this production, such as stage manager or costume/hair makeup, and what skills are they gaining?
"We have students in most production roles, including stage management, costume design, hair and makeup design, props, set design, sound design, music direction, and assistant directing. They are gaining professional skills through applied, hands-on experience. Theatre is about collaboration, responsibility, and accountability. It requires creative problem-solving and the ability to work toward a unified vision while responding to practical constraints. The skills students learn, apply, and practice in this process are transferable to anything they choose to do after."
Q. Could you share what drives your passion for Theatre and Performance?
"Live performance is one of the most immediate, potent, and embodied ways we can experience ourselves in connection with others. In a world saturated with devices and digital mediation, theatre asks us to sit in the same room, breathing the same air, responding as a collective, in real time. There is something fundamentally different about that liveness. When we watch a performer navigate an emotional experience in front of us, our own nervous systems respond. The actor’s breath shifts, and ours does too. The tension in a body on stage registers in our own muscles. Our emotional connection is not just mental or emotional, it is physiological. This is different from watching something on a screen. Live theatre is unstable, unpredictable, and responsive to what is created between the performer and the audience. The liveness of it is what I find most compelling."
About the Cast & Crew
Kristin Loewen | Mother, First Blind Queen, Lady in waiting, dancing couple, Snake Leaves Princess, Singer 1, Allerleira’s Companion 1, One of seven sons
Kristin is a performer and the music director for The Secret in the Wings, and this is her first production with UFV. She has been performing for just over a decade in shows such as The Secret Garden (Gallery 7), Newsies (Ignite Theatre), and Cinderella (Lighthouse Theatre). Kristin currently works as a vocal and drama instructor and enjoys helping young artists grow in their love for music and theatre. Kristin is so thankful for everyone who made The Secret in the Wings possible and hopes that you enjoy the show!
Alexis Price | Suitor 1, dancing couple, Father of Snake Leaves Princess, Singer 2, Allerleira’s Companion 2, Louise, Daughter
Lexi Price is an actor in The Secret in the Wings. She really enjoyed working on all the movement pieces in this play, as well as exploring the contrast between childish stories and their darker undertones. Lexi is currently a third-year student at the University of the Fraser Valley and is working toward becoming a teacher. She loves playing music, reading, and crafting.
Virge Farwaha | Second Blind Queen, Lady in waiting, dancing couple, Singer 3, Boy’s servant, Mama, Allerleira’s companion 3, one of seven sons
Virge’s main role in this production is both performing and being one of the three singers. They were previously in Moth Boy, as well as several musicals such as Anastasia, School of Rock, and—at the time of writing this—the soon-to-be-performed Beetlejuice! Virge is a student in cosmetology school, working toward a nail technician diploma, and hopes you enjoy the show! Their favourite role in this show is the second Blind Queen.
Emma Ramsey | Prince 2, other child, Suitor 568, dancing couple, Allerleira, one of seven sons, female voice
Emma is happy to be working as an actor in this production. She has enjoyed learning the choreography for the show, as this is her first time performing dance in a play. Emma is currently in her second year at UFV and plans to continue her studies in theatre, with hopes of participating in more productions in the future. She dreams of pursuing a career as an actor.
-229x305.jpg)
Tobey Donaghy | Prince 3, Father of princess who wouldn’t laugh, son of third Blind Queen, boy (snake leaves), Man, Andrew
Biography Coming Soon
Kira Taves | Heidi, Nursemaid, stranger, suitor 2, dancing couple, one of seven sons
Kira is thrilled to step into her first performance role at UFV in this enchanted spin on classic fairy tales, where she explores multiple characters. This marks her second-to-last semester at UFV, during which she will complete a BA with an extended minor in Theatre alongside a minor in Media and Communications. Over the years, she has had the privilege of working on numerous UFV productions, as well as many outside projects, in both backstage and performance roles. Having worked with Anna before, she could not pass up the opportunity to work with her again. She extends a heartfelt thank you to everyone—cast and crew—for their hard work and dedication. She also thanks her loved ones for their continued support. Kira hopes you enjoy the production as much as she has enjoyed being a part of it.
Kayla Therrien | Prince 1, papa, Princess Who Wouldn’t Laugh, Allerleira’s Father, King, King of Silent for Seven Years
Biography Coming Soon
Emma Larson | Third Blind Queen, Lady in waiting, dancing couple, sea captain, second king, other child, evil mother, one of seven sons
Emma Larson is a 4th year visual arts student here at UFV. This is Emma’s first university level production, but in their spare time they have been an avid cosplayer creating and designing costumes to attend events in role for the last nine years. Growing up in a very musical and creative household she knew right away she wanted to be part of such a whimsical production and is thrilled to make her theatrical debut in this production of The Secret in the Wings. Throughout rehearsals they have found the very ensemble-based work a fun challenge to explore.
Sky Sotos Terrones | Father, Ambassador, Child (stolen pennies), King’s Attendant, Allerleira’s Father’s Attendant, one of seven sons, male voice
Biography Coming Soon
Lake Butterworth | Mr. Fitzpatrick, Father of Seven Sons
Lake is honored to be playing Mr. Fitzpatrick in The Secret in the Wings. They love being on stage and have appeared in many productions, including Dewey Finn in School of Rock and Ralph in Lord of the Flies. Lake is also a youth drama teacher at Creative Edge School of Arts and loves educating future performers. They have cherished working through this complex script with the cast and crew and are thankful to all involved for creating such a safe space.
Emmylee Letourneau | Stage Manager
Emylee is excited to have taken on the role of Stage Manager for The Secret in the Wings. She has enjoyed watching the stories come to life through imaginative movement and creative storytelling. In her free time, she can be found working behind the scenes on theatre productions in the community. Her recent credits include Prince Caspian, Footloose, and Glory (Gallery 7).
Aaliyah Panchishin | Assistant Stage Manager
Aaliyah is the ASM for The Secret in The Wings. She has been involved in theatre for 3 years and loves every part of the process. She has previously been an actor in a high school production for Chicago and has been in UFV’s work-study program assisting with various productions to learn more about backstage theatre. Aaliyah is majoring in English and minoring in Spanish while working towards her BA and has taken a Stage Management course at UFV. She is excited to keep her passion for theatre growing with this production and to explore more Stage Management opportunities in the future.
Marie Brideau | Assistant Director
Biography Coming Soon
Kimberley Perkins | Lead Costume Designer
Kimberley enjoys sewing and has made many handmade costumes and has been costume designer for Gallery 7’s Miracle on 34th Street, BIV’s Macbeth and The Merry Wives of Windsor, as well as assistant designer for UFV’s Macbeth and Theatre in the Country’s Anastasia and The Matchmaker. She also loves to write plays and involve all of her family in them: A Christmas Vlog at Calvary Baptist Church, and Fanny Sees the Son at Langley Little Theatre. She loves to research historical costuming and integrates this knowledge into her pieces. You can find Kimberley teaching preschool, reenacting history as an interpreter at the Fort Langley CN Station, practicing archery, and Scottish country dancing. Kimberley thanks her wonderful husband and three amazing daughters for supporting her in her crazy whims!
Avrey jantz Krahn | Sound Designer
Avrey is a fifth-year theatre student at UFV and is excited to serve as the sound designer and operator for Secret in the Wings. She has been lucky enough to stage-manage the first-ever production of Moth Boy and design hair and makeup for multiple shows in the Fraser Valley. Avrey has choreographed dance pieces for Matilda the Musical and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, and helped visualize an all-dance adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. She hopes to continue working in the entertainment industry as part of productions in both film and theatre. Avrey loved working on this production in a role that was new to her and hopes you enjoy the show!
Brooke Hampton | Production Assistant/Stage Hand/Dresser
Biography Coming Soon
-225x300.jpg)
Ryen Lavoie | Set Designer/Assistant
Ryen (they/them) is thrilled to work with UFV Theatre again on The Secret in the Wings. Having previously worked on Macbeth (2025) as Sound Designer, Ryen is returning this time as the Set Designer. Ryen is a BFA student with aspirations to enter education and has a love for backstage production. They hope their efforts are reflected in the set’s atmosphere and are excited to bring the audience into the worlds of The Secret in the Wings.
Alena Kolind | Props Assistant
Alena is a Set & Props Assistant, helping develop prop concepts and build their functionality, and painting and dressing the set to follow the vision of the Set Designer. She has enjoyed working with a fun and talented cast and crew this semester as a first year UFV student pursuing a Bachelor of Kinesiology with a passion for technical theatre. Alena previously did technical theatre work in the Musical Theatre program at Yale Secondary, where she spent time designing and building sets, props, and lighting designs, and stage managing her last two musicals there.
Bugsy Kearley | Props Master
Bugsy is excited to be taking on their first production role with UFV Theatre! Having previously done smaller-scale productions with their middle school, as well as supporting UFV’s theatre department through Work-Study, Bugsy is looking forward to taking on the role of Prop Master for Secret in the Wings. Outside of theatre, Bugsy is studying Visual Arts and Psychology and keeps busy with their two part-time jobs.
Hazel Franklin | Assitant Costume Designer
Biography Coming Soon
Aishwin Kaur | Hair & Makeup Designer
Aishwin is the makeup and hair designer for this production, blending creativity, precision, and a bit of magic behind the scenes. She’s passionate about culinary arts, works as a florist, and somehow also finds time to be an aviation enthusiast. When she’s not designing looks for the stage, she’s creating art or learning something completely unrelated—just for fun. She believes creativity looks best when it comes from many different places.