March 6, 2026 | Uncategorized,

A Note From Daniel Banks, Co-Creator of The Secret Sharer

Over the course of the past six years, as artists adapting Conrad’s work, we have been asked why we would choose to devote time and resources to such a complicated and controversial author. Fair question.

Joseph Conrad is both most famous and infamous for his novella The Heart of Darkness, which, while being an anti-colonial treatise, also infantilizes and describes Africans and Africa in racist and colonial terms. The acclaimed Nigerian author Chinua Achebe spent much of his career analyzing and criticizing Conrad for his racist portrayal of Africa and Africans in the Heart of Darkness.

In the world of intersectional identities, one often has to accept that two things can be true at the same time–that a particular work of art can be meaningful and moving, while acknowledging that the creator of that work was harmful either to us or to others and people that we care about. Such as the case with Joseph Conrad and The Secret Sharer. Our company of predominantly, Global Majority and LGBTQ+ members acknowledge the harm caused by Conrad’s colonial treatment of Africa and Africans in Heart of Darkness while at the same time recognizing the incredible healing power for LGBTQ+ folks of The Secret Sharer’s tale of intimacy and connection (which does not include any mention of race or Africa). And, given Conrad’s history, we have knowingly, flipped the script by making the story our own, literally speaking interventions into Conrad‘s text by telling our own stories and inviting the audience to tell theirs.

So in the end, is this Conrad‘s work or is this our brave revision of it, using it as a platform and springboard to create spaces of belonging and healing for our own communities? The audience will need to be the judge of that and we look forward to taking that journey with you!

As a company of predominantly Global Majority and/or LGBTQQ2SPIAA+ artists, we are drawn to the text of The Secret Sharer – which does not contain racist language – because of these contradictions.