Things I Hide From Dad mines life within and beyond a doomsday cult at Pacific Theatre to March 8

Travis Abels’s work is a guest production byVancouver Fringe Festival

Pacific Theatre and Vancouver Fringe Festival present Things I Hide From Dad to March 8

TRAVIS ABELS IS the creator and performer of Things I Hide From Dad, which goes back to his 12-year-old self. There’s a battle going on inside him as he tries to obey his father, a preacher in a fundamentalist sect. Being an adolescent, however, thoughts of sex rage in the boy’s mind, feelings he fears will cause all hell to break loose.

Abels grew up the son of a preacher in real life. The work, which is a guest production by Vancouver Fringe Festival, is an immersive ride through Abels’s life within and beyond a doomsday cult, as he meets the monsters and the friends that are hiding in his closet.

A “2023 Fringe Favourite”, Things I Hide From Dad was described by the Orlando Weekly as a “multi-sensory masterclass in capturing an audience’s attention…with an entertaining, relatable and ultimately uplifting tale.”

When he’s not touring his solo show, Abels trains with the Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble and is devising a new production for the 2025 Fringe Festival circuit.

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Gail Johnson

Gail Johnson is cofounder of Stir. She is a Vancouver-based journalist who has earned local and national nominations and awards for her work. She is a certified Gladue Report writer via Indigenous Perspectives Society in partnership with Royal Roads University and is a member of a judging panel for top Vancouver restaurants.

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