SECRET IDENTITY (2019)

The World Premiere of Chris Weikel’s
Secret Identity

Written by Chris Weikel

Directed by Mark Finley

Cast: CJ DiOrio, Michael Flood*, Zachary Gault, Keno Golaub, Jamie Heinlein*, David Leeper, Nicky Maindiratta, Kory Alexander Majansky, Michael Joseph Murray*, Keith Weiss

* – Member, Actors Equity Association

The world can be unbearable when the school bully paints a target on your back.

That’s what the world is like for JT, a seemingly ordinary 16-year-old nerd. But JT has something big to hide, something he can’t tell anyone else about. That “something” flies, wears spandex and fights crime. He’s JT’s escape from the unbearable real world. When JT’s arch-nemesis, Mal, calls him “faggot”, JT retreats to the safer, and far more exciting world of comic book superheroes. It’s a place of his own creation, where villains are vanquished and the downtrodden are lifted up. Things start getting complicated when JT’s imaginary, square-jawed hero Paladin gets competition in the form of the very real, and equally square-jawed Trey, a new student at JT’s school. Lines between the real world and the imaginary start to blur, and JT may become a casualty of his own storytelling. When adolescent fantasies come in heroic proportions it’s difficult to keep them under wraps.

Playwright Chris Weikel, whose previous work Fern Siegel described in the Huffington Post as “witty” and “clever” gives voice to the many ways bullying can wreak havoc in the lives of LGBTQ youth. But his play is also about forging deep bonds of friendship, finding your tribe, and the superpower of the creative spirit. It shines a light on the decisions that many who feel marginalized must confront in a society where bullying has become the norm.

Where: The Flea
20 Thomas Street, New York, NY

When: January 9 – February 2, 2019