SECRETS -- 2006 Review – 2007 Preview

By Ken Wydro

2006 has been a very engaging year for the creation of the drama SECRETS – The Untold Story of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. The process of finding the best way to bring their intense, complex and soul-searing story to the stage has been a captivating one -- burning the midnight oil in the silence and privacy of my writing room, then working with a number of actors to make the words and the scenes of the play come alive, first in rehearsal and then in public readings before a very discerning and demanding New York audience.

The process of writing a play—actually re-writing and revising a core, central idea- has plunged me into the history of both Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung as well into the shadows of my own subterranean field. Writing this play about two of the masterminds and icons of the twentieth century has revealed to me the complexity and the power of the unconscious mind.

Freud and Jung were so important because they first dove down into the dark waters of the unconscious into dreams, memories, deep-rooted issues and secrets. They began to articulate the power of a secret – how the unspoken and hidden past can play out in everyday life.

Yet, in a strange and dramatic way, they could not overcome the longstanding issues within themselves. They healed others with the ideas and methods of psychoanalysis, yet in the end they triggered and succumbed to each other’s issues, needs and egos.

In 2006, I found myself writing and revising the script nearly a dozen times. There were twelve public readings of different versions of the play as I soon realized that performing live before an audience was the best way to see what was working and what was not. 2006 was a period of experimentation and trial and error, and will culminate on
Tuesday evening November 21 at 7 pm at the final reading of the year Players Club at 16 Grammercy Park South.

I was encouraged to present this final reading by Elliot Martin, a veteran producer on Broadway and in London, before an audience of industry professionals whose feedback will help me asses the value of this project.

In early November, I received a very positive response from a talented theatre director who is now exploring a production in 2007. There is a good chance that all the groundwork done in 2006 will bear some kind of fruit in the months ahead, and I will keep you up-to-date via the Blog and by email.

I have imagined and visualized the play on stage with full set, lights and costumes so intensely that I can now close my eyes and see the actors in motion. I am open to the ideas and suggestions of the director and the producer, knowing full well that a production of this magnitude is always a team effort.

I am writing this to give thanks all the actors who have participated in the rehearsals and the public reading, to the audiences who have made the time to see the readings and offer valuable feedback and to Vy Higginsen and the staff of the Mama Foundation For The Arts in Harlem who have supplied the venue and the support for me to invest the time to give shape and life to the work.

Special thanks to Jerry Griffin who has played several roles on stage, and off stage has been a candid sounding board and a good friend to this playwright who is often at his wit’s end.

I invite all friends, associates, colleagues and critics to attend the most current version of SECRETS on

Tues. Nov 21 at 7 pm at the
Players Club
16 Grammercy Park South,
(at the corner of Irving Place – which is also)
E. 20th St between Park and 3rd Aves.

I am grateful, hopeful and expectant, trusting that all this time, work, effort, energy on the part of many people will bear fruit in the coming year. The process of birthing a new play has not been easy, but it has been exciting and surprising. Please, stay tuned as we move toward the realization of a dream that was born many, many years ago. The best may be yet to come. I hope to see you along the way. Blessings to all -- Ken Wydro