Secret Ingredients
Touring Information
On this page:
1. About the show
2. How it works
3. Project history
4. Creative team
5. Touring requirements
6. Accessibility information
7. Territorial acknowledgement
1. About the show
2. How it works
3. Project history
4. Creative team
5. Touring requirements
6. Accessibility information
7. Territorial acknowledgement
1. About the show
Secret Ingredients is an experimental theatre performance 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. 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.
2. How it works
-In the weeks leading up to the performance, an online call for cake requests is shared with the local community. Participants are invited to fill out a cake request form, detailing the message they would like to send to someone in their life via cake. Sharing this call on Craigslist and social media has the exciting potential to attract participants who may not typically attend theatre events.
-We select one new cake message to bake and deliver in the local community. The story of this cake is incorporated into the existing performance. In this way, the project shifts and accumulates in response to each local context.
-The performance is structured as “dessert theatre,” with the audience seated at communal tables for an interactive cake tasting, pairing each story with a different flavour. The performance tells the stories of the cakes that were baked and delivered, intertwined with Keely's own personal stories and experiences. Sound, lighting, and projection design support the performance. The stories range from moving, funny, banal, strange, and heart wrenching. There is delightful tension in pairing enjoyable flavours with challenging messages: the tart rhubarb jam of embarrassment, the spicy ginger of frustration, the dark salted chocolate of grief.
-Audience members are playfully invited to be involved in the performance through moments of gentle participation, such as lighting candles, reading text aloud, and writing their own cake messages.
Graphic used to promote cake delivery service.
Audience Responses:
“The room buzzed with giddiness and curiosity to taste Keely's confectionery creations and hear the anecdotes associated with each cake. Cradled by the exciting cake tasting is also the poignant display of messages that were left unsaid and undelivered. It offered an opening into the inquiry of gift-giving as love language, and the cultural and societal factors that impede us from saying what we want to say.”
“I was excited by hearing how others would express themselves through their cake messages, and it sparked an inward reflection for me of articulating what I would want to say in their situations. I really wanted to root for these people who I didn’t even know.”
"Keely has something very original here."
“The room buzzed with giddiness and curiosity to taste Keely's confectionery creations and hear the anecdotes associated with each cake. Cradled by the exciting cake tasting is also the poignant display of messages that were left unsaid and undelivered. It offered an opening into the inquiry of gift-giving as love language, and the cultural and societal factors that impede us from saying what we want to say.”
“I was excited by hearing how others would express themselves through their cake messages, and it sparked an inward reflection for me of articulating what I would want to say in their situations. I really wanted to root for these people who I didn’t even know.”
"Keely has something very original here."
Cake Delivery Participant Responses:
“Participating in Secret Ingredients has been such a wonderful experience. It allowed me to express my feelings through a gorgeous and delicious cake, which my ex-partner was happy to receive. The cake gave us a unique opportunity to talk about how we felt after a difficult breakup and to work on healing and building a new friendship."
"Keely has done such an amazing job throughout the project, and her incredible creativity and kindness are having a real impact on the community.”
“Thank you SO MUCH. This is great. You’re doing the world a great service. Got all my gratitude confetti flying at you and your concept is dope.”
“Participating in Secret Ingredients has been such a wonderful experience. It allowed me to express my feelings through a gorgeous and delicious cake, which my ex-partner was happy to receive. The cake gave us a unique opportunity to talk about how we felt after a difficult breakup and to work on healing and building a new friendship."
"Keely has done such an amazing job throughout the project, and her incredible creativity and kindness are having a real impact on the community.”
“Thank you SO MUCH. This is great. You’re doing the world a great service. Got all my gratitude confetti flying at you and your concept is dope.”
3. Project History
Secret Ingredients was commissioned and developed through Theatre Replacement’s COLLIDER Artist Residency. It had a work-in-progress presentation at HOLD ON LET GO (Vancouver BC, January 2024), and upcoming presentations at HOLD ON LET GO (February 2025) and Eastern Front Theatre STAGES Festival (Dartmouth NS, June 2025). Developed with support from The Canada Council for the Arts. We are currently seeking opportunities for national and international presentation.
Secret Ingredients was commissioned and developed through Theatre Replacement’s COLLIDER Artist Residency. It had a work-in-progress presentation at HOLD ON LET GO (Vancouver BC, January 2024), and upcoming presentations at HOLD ON LET GO (February 2025) and Eastern Front Theatre STAGES Festival (Dartmouth NS, June 2025). Developed with support from The Canada Council for the Arts. We are currently seeking opportunities for national and international presentation.
4. Creative Team
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Keely O’Brien: Creator/Performer
Keely (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist with extensive experience in community engagement and social practice, as well as experimental theatre. She is interested in merging these areas, inviting the public to participate in unusual meaning-making experiences. Her practice has a strong visual arts and design component and a distinct, inviting aesthetic. Keely’s work includes participatory performance, imaginative ephemera, and interactive experiences. She is Co-Artistic Director of theatre company Popcorn Galaxies, which has created 15 new works since 2013 and has been presented in Vancouver, Edmonton, Whitehorse, and Halifax. |
Alex Mah: Sound Designer
Alex (he/him) is an interdisciplinary artist, composer-musician, and performer. His
electroacoustic music investigates time and timbre and his written music explores embodied
concepts such as chance, choice, and relationality in performance.
Andie Lloyd: Projection & Lighting Designer
Andie (any pronouns) is a queer interdisciplinary artist and community advocate. Andie works
primarily as a lighting & video designer for live performance, as well as a digital platform
consultant, visual artist, writer, media artist and VJ, and is a co-founder of HK House 香港屋..
Veronique/V West: Access Consultant
Veronique/V (she/they) is a non-binary artist, arts worker, and disability advocate. Their practice
draws from their lived experience of neurodivergence, madness, and chronic illness. Their projects explore how disability can reshape understandings of self, kin, and community.
Maiko Yamamoto: Mentor
Maiko (she/her) is Theatre Replacement’s Artistic Director. A leader in the Vancouver and the
national arts scenes and known internationally for her work, Maiko has created over 25 new
works for TR, drawing upon her love of formal inventiveness and exploration, conceptual play,
creative research, artist-centred processes and experimental and multidisciplinary practice.
Robert Azevedo: Production & Stage Manager
Robert (they/them) is a dance artist based in Corner Brook, NL. As an independent artist their skill set includes production, stage, and tour management (with an emphasis on logistics coordinating for non-traditional shows and venues).
Alex (he/him) is an interdisciplinary artist, composer-musician, and performer. His
electroacoustic music investigates time and timbre and his written music explores embodied
concepts such as chance, choice, and relationality in performance.
Andie Lloyd: Projection & Lighting Designer
Andie (any pronouns) is a queer interdisciplinary artist and community advocate. Andie works
primarily as a lighting & video designer for live performance, as well as a digital platform
consultant, visual artist, writer, media artist and VJ, and is a co-founder of HK House 香港屋..
Veronique/V West: Access Consultant
Veronique/V (she/they) is a non-binary artist, arts worker, and disability advocate. Their practice
draws from their lived experience of neurodivergence, madness, and chronic illness. Their projects explore how disability can reshape understandings of self, kin, and community.
Maiko Yamamoto: Mentor
Maiko (she/her) is Theatre Replacement’s Artistic Director. A leader in the Vancouver and the
national arts scenes and known internationally for her work, Maiko has created over 25 new
works for TR, drawing upon her love of formal inventiveness and exploration, conceptual play,
creative research, artist-centred processes and experimental and multidisciplinary practice.
Robert Azevedo: Production & Stage Manager
Robert (they/them) is a dance artist based in Corner Brook, NL. As an independent artist their skill set includes production, stage, and tour management (with an emphasis on logistics coordinating for non-traditional shows and venues).
5. Touring Requirements Overview
-2 on the road: Keely (performer/creator) and Robert (production/stage manager)
Leading up to the performance:
-An online call for cake requests is distributed locally one month before the performance.
-Keely and Robert arrive at least five days before the performance to bake and prepare.
-Kitchen access is required: either an accommodation with a fully equipped kitchen, or a local kitchen rental.
Performance Technical Requirements:
-Venue: theatre with space for audience to be seated at tables, kitchen access on site with fridge and sink.
-Maximum audience capacity per show: 50 (can also be performed for smaller audiences)
-Lighting: a house hang with 5-6 specials available (or lighting trees/portable lighting)
-Sound: standard house sound set up, one wireless mic with stand
-Projection: free standing projection screen (10’ W x 7.5’ H or similar), standard projector
-Set/props: tables and chairs for all audience members, a counter height kitchen island
-Performance length: 70 minutes
-2 on the road: Keely (performer/creator) and Robert (production/stage manager)
Leading up to the performance:
-An online call for cake requests is distributed locally one month before the performance.
-Keely and Robert arrive at least five days before the performance to bake and prepare.
-Kitchen access is required: either an accommodation with a fully equipped kitchen, or a local kitchen rental.
Performance Technical Requirements:
-Venue: theatre with space for audience to be seated at tables, kitchen access on site with fridge and sink.
-Maximum audience capacity per show: 50 (can also be performed for smaller audiences)
-Lighting: a house hang with 5-6 specials available (or lighting trees/portable lighting)
-Sound: standard house sound set up, one wireless mic with stand
-Projection: free standing projection screen (10’ W x 7.5’ H or similar), standard projector
-Set/props: tables and chairs for all audience members, a counter height kitchen island
-Performance length: 70 minutes
6. Access Information
-An accessibility guide is shared online before each performance (see an example here).
-A pre show audio note is available to increase access for blind and partially sighted audience members (listen here).
-Cakes are served to the audience as part of the show. Eating the cake is optional. The cakes are vegan, may contain nuts, contain gluten, and may contain trace amounts of dairy and eggs. We also provide cake in to-go containers for audience members who prefer to remain masked.
-Visual elements of the show are described verbally within the performance. Sections of the show with audience participation are currently being tested and adapted for accessibility for blind and partially sighted audiences. We are happy to discuss strategies and options.
-Content warnings: mentions of parent’s life threatening illness, psychiatric hospitalization
-An accessibility guide is shared online before each performance (see an example here).
-A pre show audio note is available to increase access for blind and partially sighted audience members (listen here).
-Cakes are served to the audience as part of the show. Eating the cake is optional. The cakes are vegan, may contain nuts, contain gluten, and may contain trace amounts of dairy and eggs. We also provide cake in to-go containers for audience members who prefer to remain masked.
-Visual elements of the show are described verbally within the performance. Sections of the show with audience participation are currently being tested and adapted for accessibility for blind and partially sighted audiences. We are happy to discuss strategies and options.
-Content warnings: mentions of parent’s life threatening illness, psychiatric hospitalization
7. Territorial Acknowledgement
Secret Ingredients prioritizes integrated, creative, and impactful acknowledgement of unceded Indigenous territories. When performed on colonized land, a territorial acknowledgement cake is baked and incorporated into the show.
An art zine documenting community cake submissions can be sold by donation at each presentation, with proceeds contributed to Raven Trust, a non-profit working with Indigenous Nations to legally defend their land, water, rights, and culture.
Secret Ingredients prioritizes integrated, creative, and impactful acknowledgement of unceded Indigenous territories. When performed on colonized land, a territorial acknowledgement cake is baked and incorporated into the show.
An art zine documenting community cake submissions can be sold by donation at each presentation, with proceeds contributed to Raven Trust, a non-profit working with Indigenous Nations to legally defend their land, water, rights, and culture.
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