Western Oregon University is performing "The Secret in the Wings", a complex performance of less familiar fairy tales. 

The Secret in the Wings: A Play, is written by Mary Zimmermman. The story takes place in a little girl's home after her parents leave her with her frightening neighbor for the night who has a hulking tail. Once the parents leave the chilling neighbor begins to read to the little girl adaptations of dark and gruesome fairy tales like The Three Blind Queens, the Princess Who Wouldn't Laugh, The Six Swans, and many more. 

As we saw these fairy tales come to life right in front of us, the presentation of the deaths of these characters in  the different stories were very innovative. For example, in The Princess Who Wouldn't Laugh as the suitors would come up to make the princess chuckle at her ball anyone who was unsuccessful would get their head chopped off. The way they presented that action was by putting a black bag over the failure's face and holding a rubber red bouncy ball that represented their head.   

In between the narratives the daunting neighbor would emerge to ask the little girl to marry her. The little girl would respond with "no" in a very unbothered way rather than with fear. 

The stories went on, and next was Allerleira, a story about a King whose wife died and made the King promise to never marry again unless his next wife was as beautiful as her. This task was hard for the King because no one was as beautiful as his deceased wife, except his daughter. The King proceeded to propose to his daughter but she refused the proposal. Allerleira runs into the woods where she finds a different King then marries him. 

This story was specifically unsettling. The girl portraying Allerleira, Tessa Rosenau, had a spectacular performance. Rosenau painted a beautiful picture for us and led us through a tunnel of unpredictability. The story started off feeling somber and dark, and then shifted into an unnerving and worrisome light. By the end it was one of the only stories with a pleasant ending. 

The end of this perplexing play finally came and it was a twist none of us were expecting. The scary neighbor turned out to be just a little boy dreaming that he was babysitting his neighbor, reading her fairy tales and the little girl was actually his mother. 

The end of this play left many confused but appeased.