The Secret in the Wings: A Play

Mary Zimmerman’s The Secret in the Wings adapts a group of lesser-known fairy tales to create a theatrical work that sets their dark mystery against her signature wit and humor. The framing story concerns a child and the frightening babysitter with whom her parents leave her. As the babysitter reads from a book, the characters in each of the tales materialize, with each tale breaking off just at its bleakest moment before giving way to the next one.



The central tale is told without interruption, after which each previous tale is successively resumed, with each looming disaster averted. As in Zimmerman’s other productions, here she uses costumes, props, sets, and lighting to brilliant effect, creating images and feelings that render the fairy tales in all their elemental and enduring power.

• Metamorphoses: A Play
• The Odyssey: A Play
• Argonautika: The Voyage of Jason and the Argonauts
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: The Play (Modern Plays)
• The Arabian Nights: A Play
• The White Snake: A Play
• Peter and the Starcatcher (Acting Edition) (Peter and the Starcatchers)
• The Buried Giant (Vintage International)
• The Wolves: A Play: Off-Broadway Edition
• The Play That Goes Wrong: 3rd Edition (Modern Plays)