The dolls’ house maker has a secret and its making him miserable, so depressed that he hasn’t had sex with his wife for nine years. His daughter offers to listen to his secret and promises never to reveal it to anyone else. As soon as he whispers it to her his mood lifts, the sun and stars shine out brighter and he feels like a new man. He declares it a miracle and tells his wife of his cure. She experiences the same lift when she quietly shares her own secret with their daughter too. Word gets round and soon the King’s Right Hand Man and many other people from the village bring their secrets to the daughter, the secret keeper.

Those are the bare bones of the first half of The Secret Keeper, on at the excellent North Wall theatre last week as one stop on a successful national tour. The play, which is written and performed by Angela Clerkin, with the help of another three performers who multi-role as the remaining cast, is described as “political fairy tale for adults with songs, magpies and a murderous gothic heart.” We know about the murder from the start. It is that of the dolls’ house maker’s brother which happened about nine years before the action. Did he kill his brother? Is that his secret? Who else might have done it? What other secrets do the villagers hold in their innermost hearts?

The villagers give her model magpies, each one marking a secret and the secret keeper gradually gains a large collection. At times the three other performers appear dressed as magpies and work a bit like a chorus. They begin to have a political voice, almost like a magpie trade union. The magpies are a brilliant device, in a play with many similarly clever touches. I particularly like the doll’s head/torso stuck on a plinth with a drawstring out of its back, which when pulled announces the title of the next scene.

It’s an interesting little play, but the first half is a little slow and the few songs dull, although the second half has a better pace and a great denouement. It might have been better condensed into a snappy hour instead of being stretched to 90 minutes, but I did enjoy it and found it out of the ordinary. The set is a bit odd, because it is dominated by a large wooden box in the middle of the stage, but the lighting and the sound work well. The cast are all very talented and adept at playing their many parts. Angela Clerkin sits on the box and masterfully pins the whole show together as The Secret Keeper.