{{short description|2009 Andrew Kooman play about human trafficking}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2013}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2014}} {{Infobox play | name = She Has a Name | image = She Has a Name.jpg | image_size = | image_alt = A black square with the words "SHE HAS A NAME" in white letters at the top and an instant photograph below the words, depicting part of a face and a hand | caption = Promotional Facebook/Twitter profile picture for the 2012 cross-Canada tour | writer = [[Andrew Kooman]] | chorus = Four dead child prostitutes | characters = Jason<br />Number 18<br />Ali<br />Marta<br />Mama<br />Pimp | mute = | setting = [[Bangkok]], Thailand | premiere = {{Start date|2011|02|23}} | place = [[EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts]] in [[Calgary]], Alberta, Canada | orig_lang = English | series = | subject = [[Child sex tourism]]<br />[[Forced prostitution]]<br />[[Human trafficking]]<br />[[Prostitution of children]]<br />[[Sexual slavery]] | genre = [[Legal thriller]]<br />[[Political drama]]<br />[[Tragedy]] | web = http://shehasaname.net/ }} '''''She Has a Name''''' is a play about [[human trafficking]] written by [[Andrew Kooman]] in 2009 as a single act and expanded to full length in 2010. It is about the [[trafficking of children]] into [[sexual slavery]] and was inspired by the deaths of 54 people in the [[Ranong human-trafficking incident]]. Kooman had previously published literature, but this was his first full-length play. The stage premiere of ''She Has a Name'' was directed by [[Stephen Waldschmidt]] in [[Calgary]], Alberta in February 2011. From May to October 2012, ''She Has a Name'' toured across Canada. In conjunction with the tour, [[A Better World (organization)|A Better World]] raised money to help women and children who had been [[Human trafficking in Thailand|trafficked in Thailand]] as part of [[Prostitution in Thailand|the country's prostitution industry]]. The first performances of ''She Has a Name'' in the United States took place in [[Folsom, California|Folsom]], California in 2014 under the direction of Emma Eldridge, who was a 23-year-old college student at the time.
The script calls for five actors to portray ten characters. The two main characters are Jason, a young Canadian lawyer; and Number 18, a young female prostitute who claims to be fifteen years old and has been a prostitute for six years. The drama centers on Jason's infiltration of a brothel ring that is trafficking girls into [[Bangkok]]. Jason comes to believe that Number 18 could be a key witness to a human trafficking incident and tries to gain her trust and persuade her to testify against the ring. The victimized child in the play is known only by the number 18 to reflect how traffickers often dehumanize their victims by giving them a new name or simply a number, which in some cases is [[Human branding|branded]] onto the victim's body. Waldschmidt said he hoped that ''She Has a Name'' will educate Canadians about human trafficking and motivate them to act on what they learn, thereby turning them into anti-sexual slavery activists.
''She Has a Name'' received strong endorsement from Canadian activists, including [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|MP]] [[Joy Smith]], [[Ratanak International]]'s [[Brian McConaghy]], and [[International Justice Mission|IJM]] Canada's [[Jamie McIntosh]]. The play's premiere and initial run were critically acclaimed. In the 2012 tour across Canada, ''She Has a Name'' was performed in several [[fringe theatre]] festivals, at which critics representing the ''[[Montreal Gazette]]'', the ''[[Winnipeg Free Press]]'', and [[CFEQ-FM]] said it stood out for its quality and moral content.
==Background==
[[File:Andrew Kooman.jpg|thumb|alt=A photograph of a man with brown eyes, brown hair, and dimples looking at the viewer and wearing a green sweater over a black shirt|''She Has a Name'' was [[Andrew Kooman]]'s debut play.]]
''She Has a Name'' was the first full-length play by [[Andrew Kooman]], a playwright and author from Alberta in western Canada.<ref>For Kooman's nationality and home province, see {{Cite news|title=Play personalizes an industry that strips away identity|newspaper=[[Red Deer Advocate]]|author=Lana Michelin|date=February 25, 2011|url=http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/Play_personalizes_an_industry_that_strips_away_identity_116858973.html|access-date=July 22, 2012|archive-date=April 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409195749/http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/play_personalizes_an_industry_that_strips_away_identity_116858973.html|url-status=dead}} *For the fact that ''She Has a Name'' was Kooman's first full-length play, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Montreal Gazette]]|title=Fringe 2012: Alberta group's play explores human trafficking|author=Pat Donnelly|date=June 15, 2012|page=C5}}</ref> He began work on it in 2008 and finished a one-act version by 2009, writing under the guidance of a [[dramaturge]] at a Scripts At Work workshop at Red Deer College.<ref>For the date that Kooman started writing the play, see {{Cite news|newspaper=Red Deer Express|author=Mark Weber|title=Acclaimed local playwright wraps successful tour|date=September 26, 2012|url=http://www.reddeerexpress.com/news/Acclaimed_local_playwright_wraps_successful_tour_171342971.html|access-date=September 30, 2012|archive-date=November 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117152927/http://www.reddeerexpress.com/news/Acclaimed_local_playwright_wraps_successful_tour_171342971.html|url-status=dead}} * For the date that Kooman finished the one-act version, see {{Cite news |title=Local author unveils adventurous and original tale|author=Mark Weber|newspaper=Red Deer Express|date=December 9, 2009|page=14}} * For the workshop at which Kooman worked on the one-act version, see {{Cite news|title=Play personalizes an industry that strips away identity|newspaper=[[Red Deer Advocate]]|author=Lana Michelin|date=February 25, 2011|url=http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/Play_personalizes_an_industry_that_strips_away_identity_116858973.html|access-date=July 22, 2012|archive-date=April 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409195749/http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/play_personalizes_an_industry_that_strips_away_identity_116858973.html|url-status=dead}} * For the location of the workshop, see {{Cite news|newspaper = [[Red Deer Advocate]]|author = Lara Michelin|title = Powerful play returning home|date = September 24, 2012|url = http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/local/Powerful_play_returning_home_171009181.html|access-date = January 16, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref> He drew on his experiences working with a Canadian film crew in Thailand in 2006.<ref name=Radio>{{cite web|author=Kathleen Renne|publisher=[[CKUA Radio Network]]|location=Edmonton|title=February 27, 2011|date=February 27, 2011|url=http://www.ckua.com/pages/landing?blockID=428105|access-date=July 30, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828180919/http://www.ckua.com/02/22/11/Tuesday-February-22-2011/landing.html?blockID=415499&feedID=7643|archive-date=August 28, 2011}}</ref> He intended to extend the script into a full-length play eventually.<ref name=Advocate/> Kooman had previously written other literary works, including the [[young adult fiction|young adult novel]] ''[[Ten Silver Coins|Ten Silver Coins: The Drylings of Acchora]]'', and two plays, ''Shelter'' and ''Joseph'', that had been selected for development at Scripts At Work workshops.<ref name=PGC>{{cite web|title=PGC's Q&A with Andrew Kooman – Fringe Edition|publisher=[[Playwrights Guild of Canada]]|date=September 10, 2012|url=http://playwrightsguild.ca/news/pgcs-qa-andrew-kooman-fringe-edition|access-date=September 11, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131115230833/http://www.playwrightsguild.ca/news/pgcs-qa-andrew-kooman-fringe-edition|archive-date=November 15, 2013}}</ref>
Kooman first became aware of human trafficking while he was working for the nonprofit organization [[Youth With A Mission]] (YWAM) in southeast Malaysia, where he met children who had been trafficked.<ref>For Kooman's first introduction to human trafficking, see {{Cite news |newspaper=[[The Chronicle Herald]]|location=Halifax|title=Trafficked kids given identity: She Has a Name tells the story of child prostitute|author=Elissa Barnard|date=June 27, 2012|url=http://thechronicleherald.ca/artslife/111339-trafficked-kids-given-identity|access-date=July 24, 2012}} * For the location of Kooman's YWAM work, see {{Cite news |newspaper=[[Montreal Gazette]]|title=Fringe 2012: Alberta group's play explores human trafficking|author=Pat Donnelly|date=June 15, 2012|page=C5}} </ref> Kooman later realized that people are also trafficked in Canada.<ref name=CKUA>{{cite web|title=Tuesday, February 22, 2011|publisher=[[CKUA Radio Network]]|location=Edmonton|author=Kathleen Renne|date=February 22, 2011|url=http://www.ckua.com/02/22/11/Tuesday-February-22-2011/landing.html?blockID=415499&feedID=7643|access-date=July 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828180919/http://www.ckua.com/02/22/11/Tuesday-February-22-2011/landing.html?blockID=415499&feedID=7643|archive-date=August 28, 2011}}</ref> Kooman wrote ''She Has a Name'' with the intention of bringing attention to this issue, specifically in connection with sexual exploitation.<ref name=Advocate/>
To ground the play in reality, Kooman researched human trafficking and met with survivors.<ref name=Examiner>{{Cite news|newspaper=Edmonton Examiner|author=Aspen Gainer|title=Play about human trafficking, written by Albertan, comes to Edmonton|date=September 27, 2012|url=http://www.edmontonexaminer.com/2012/09/25/play-about-human-trafficking-written-by-albertan-comes-to-edmonton|access-date=September 28, 2012|archive-date=December 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219161049/http://www.edmontonexaminer.com/2012/09/25/play-about-human-trafficking-written-by-albertan-comes-to-edmonton|url-status=dead}}</ref> He read about the [[Ranong human-trafficking incident]], in which 121 people were trafficked from Burma to Thailand and left in a locked water tank, which was then abandoned by its drivers and discovered only after 54 of the people had died from suffocation or [[hyperthermia]].<ref name=Bundle1>For the time of Kooman's reading about the incident, see {{Cite news|publisher=[[CFUV-FM]]|location=Victoria|title=She Has a Name|url=http://cfuvfringefestival.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/she-has-a-name/|access-date=August 24, 2012}} * For the locations and number of victims involved in the incident, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Red Deer Advocate]]|author=Susan Zielinski|title=Groups helping sex trade victims|date=September 21, 2012|url=http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/news/local/Groups_helping_sex_trade_victims_170615546.html|access-date=January 16, 2013}} * For the type of container in which the victims were held, see {{Cite news|title=Play personalizes an industry that strips away identity|newspaper=[[Red Deer Advocate]]|author=Lana Michelin|date=February 25, 2011|url=http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/Play_personalizes_an_industry_that_strips_away_identity_116858973.html|access-date=July 22, 2012|archive-date=April 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409195749/http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/play_personalizes_an_industry_that_strips_away_identity_116858973.html|url-status=dead}} * For the number of victims who died in the incident, see {{Cite news |newspaper=[[Gauntlet (newspaper)|Gauntlet]]|location=Calgary|title=She Has a Name and a story, too: Theatre performance tours Canada to raise awareness about human trafficking in Southeast Asia|author=Pauline Anunciacion|date=February 16, 2012|volume=52|issue=30|page=8}} * For the assertion that victims died of suffocation, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Times Colonist]]|location=Victoria|author=Adrian Chamberlain|date=August 26, 2012|title=Fringe review: She Has a Name inspired by true story|url=http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Fringe+review+Name+inspired+true+story/7145452/story.html|access-date=September 11, 2012}}{{Dead link|date=January 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }} * For the assertion that victims died of hyperthermia, see {{Cite news|newspaper=St. Albert Gazette|author=Anna Borowiecki|title=Play about human trafficking provides chilling insights|date=September 22, 2012|url=http://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/20120922/SAG0302/309229988/play-about-human-trafficking-provides-chilling-insights|access-date=September 22, 2012|archive-date=December 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213190441/http://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/20120922/SAG0302/309229988/play-about-human-trafficking-provides-chilling-insights|url-status=dead}}</ref> The truck carrying the water tank had been abandoned because it ran out of fuel.<ref name=Advocate>{{Cite news|title=Play personalizes an industry that strips away identity|newspaper=[[Red Deer Advocate]]|author=Lana Michelin|date=February 25, 2011|url=http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/Play_personalizes_an_industry_that_strips_away_identity_116858973.html|access-date=July 22, 2012|archive-date=April 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409195749/http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/play_personalizes_an_industry_that_strips_away_identity_116858973.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> When the truck was discovered in April 2008, it contained men, women, and children.<ref name=Bundle2>For the time of the truck's discovery, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[London Free Press]]|title=Innocent victims at risk: Canadian play based on real-life human trafficking event|author=Joe Belanger|date=July 10, 2012|url=https://lfpress.com/entertainment/stage/2012/07/10/19972026.html|access-date=July 25, 2012|archive-date=November 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104141443/http://www.lfpress.com/entertainment/stage/2012/07/10/19972026.html|url-status=dead}} * For the assertion that some of the victims were men and women, see {{Cite news|newspaper=St. Albert Gazette|author=Anna Borowiecki|title=Play about human trafficking provides chilling insights|date=September 22, 2012|url=http://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/20120922/SAG0302/309229988/play-about-human-trafficking-provides-chilling-insights|access-date=September 22, 2012|archive-date=December 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213190441/http://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/20120922/SAG0302/309229988/play-about-human-trafficking-provides-chilling-insights|url-status=dead}} * For the assertion that some of the victims were children, see {{Cite news|title=Play personalizes an industry that strips away identity|newspaper=[[Red Deer Advocate]]|author=Lana Michelin|date=February 25, 2011|url=http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/Play_personalizes_an_industry_that_strips_away_identity_116858973.html|access-date=July 22, 2012|archive-date=April 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409195749/http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/play_personalizes_an_industry_that_strips_away_identity_116858973.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Knowing that many of the impoverished girls who are smuggled in this manner become enslaved in brothels as [[Prostitution of children|child prostitutes]], Kooman used the incident in the backstory of the play.<ref>For Kooman's identification of the Ranong human-trafficking incident with child prostitution, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Calgary Herald]]|title=Fringe Review: She Has a Name|date=August 4, 2012|author=Stephen Hunt|url=http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2012/08/04/fringe-review-she-has-a-name/|access-date=August 6, 2012|archive-date=October 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030215948/http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2012/08/04/fringe-review-she-has-a-name/|url-status=dead}} * For Kooman's appropriation of the Ranong human-trafficking incident for the play's backstory, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Gauntlet (newspaper)|Gauntlet]]|location=Calgary|title=She Has a Name and a story, too: Theatre performance tours Canada to raise awareness about human trafficking in Southeast Asia|author=Pauline Anunciacion|date=February 16, 2012|volume=52|issue=30|page=8}}</ref>
In January 2010, there was a full reading of the one-act version of the play. Despite an unfinished script and a performance by amateur actors, it evoked a strong response from the audience.<ref name=Project>{{Cite news|newspaper=The Calgary Journal |title=Human trafficking portrayed through local theatre project: World premiere of 'She Has A Name' in Calgary on Feb. 23 |author=James Wilt |date=February 4, 2011 |url=http://www.calgaryjournalonline.ca/september-print-issue/arts-a-entertainment/1719-human-trafficking-portrayed-through-local-theatre-project |access-date=August 14, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213022928/http://www.calgaryjournalonline.ca/september-print-issue/arts-a-entertainment/1719-human-trafficking-portrayed-through-local-theatre-project |archive-date=December 13, 2014 }}</ref> Later that year, [[Stephen Waldschmidt]], an artistic associate of Burnt Thicket Theatre, asked to read the script of ''She Has a Name'', and later said he could not put it down.<ref>For Waldschmidt's position and request, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Montreal Gazette]]|title=Fringe 2012: Alberta group's play explores human trafficking|author=Pat Donnelly|date=June 15, 2012|page=C5}} *For Waldschmidt's statement about the script, see {{Cite news|newspaper=The Calgary Journal |title=Human trafficking portrayed through local theatre project: World premiere of 'She Has A Name' in Calgary on Feb. 23 |author=James Wilt |date=February 4, 2011 |url=http://www.calgaryjournalonline.ca/september-print-issue/arts-a-entertainment/1719-human-trafficking-portrayed-through-local-theatre-project |access-date=August 14, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213022928/http://www.calgaryjournalonline.ca/september-print-issue/arts-a-entertainment/1719-human-trafficking-portrayed-through-local-theatre-project |archive-date=December 13, 2014 }}</ref> He was initially reluctant to attach himself to the play because of the immensity and ugliness of the issues therein, but he ultimately worked with Kooman to expand it into a full-length play with an extra hour of material by the end of 2010.<ref name=Advocate/> The result is a play that can be performed in 90 minutes but may last up to two hours.<ref>For the shorter performance time, see {{Cite magazine|magazine=Plank Magazine|location=Vancouver|author=Lisa Barrett|title=She Has A Name|date=September 8, 2012|url=http://plankmagazine.com/review/she-has-name|access-date=September 19, 2012}} * For the longer performance time, see {{Cite news|newspaper=Victoria News|title=Moving play, She Has a Name, comes with a message|date=February 16, 2012|url=http://www.vicnews.com/entertainment/139460168.html|access-date=July 26, 2012|archive-date=December 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211041737/http://www.vicnews.com/entertainment/139460168.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Burnt Thicket Theatre served as the play's initial production company.<ref name=Advocate/>
==Characters== [[File:She Has a Name 2014 - Distress.JPG|thumb|alt=A photograph of a kneeling woman surrounded by three other women in white cloaks staring at her all in front of a painted backdrop|The voices have been variously considered [[angel]]s or ghosts, and are sometimes frightening and at other times consoling.]]
There are ten characters in ''She Has a Name'', but the script calls for only five actors, four female and one male.<ref>For the number of characters and the number of actors, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Fast Forward Weekly]]|location=Calgary|date=February 17, 2011|author=Krista Sylvester|access-date=July 21, 2012|title=They all have a name|url=http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/arts/theatre/they-all-have-a-name-7022/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828173601/http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/arts/theatre/they-all-have-a-name-7022/|archive-date=August 28, 2011}} *For the gender information, see {{cite web|publisher=Calgary Arts Development|title=Audition Notice – She Has A Name|author=James Popoff|date=August 24, 2010|url=http://www.calgaryartsdevelopment.com/content/audition-notice-she-has-name|access-date=August 3, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711085552/http://www.calgaryartsdevelopment.com/content/audition-notice-she-has-name|archive-date=July 11, 2011}}</ref> The main characters are Jason and Number 18. Jason is a young, Canadian lawyer with experience in corporate law. He found this work unsatisfying, so he started working in [[international human rights law]] for the United Nations and a non-governmental organization (NGO) that opposes sex trafficking. Number 18{{mdash}}the play's heroine{{mdash}}is a young, female prostitute who claims to be fifteen years old and has been a prostitute for six years. Ali is Jason's wife, and they have two young daughters. Marta is Jason's employer, who has become very tough from years of fighting for justice and who is now driven and stressed. The other characters are a pimp, who is unnamed, and his assistant, a cruel [[Mama-san|brothel keeper]] called Mama.
The script calls for one actor to play both male characters{{mdash}}Jason and the pimp.<ref name=Calgary>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[Calgary Sun]]|author=Louis Hobson|date=May 4, 2012|title=Actor makes Name in trafficking play|url=http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/05/04/actor-makes-name-in-trafficking-play|access-date=July 30, 2012|archive-date=December 6, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121206013414/http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/05/04/actor-makes-name-in-trafficking-play|url-status=dead}}</ref> Jason and Number 18 are haunted by four voices. As poetic and prophetic voices, these characters serve much the same purpose as a [[Greek chorus|chorus]] in [[Greek tragedy|Greek tragedies]], according to reviewer Lana Michelin of the ''[[Red Deer Advocate]]''.<ref name=Advocate/> Variously considered angels or ghosts, the voices are written in the script to be played by the female actors who portray Number 18, Marta, Ali, and Mama.<ref>For the assertion that the voices are angels, see {{Cite news |newspaper=[[Uptown (newspaper)|Uptown]]|location=Winnipeg|date=July 21, 2012|title=Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival 2012 reviews |url=http://www.uptownmag.com/arts/features/WINNIPEG-FRINGE-THEATRE-FESTIVAL-REVIEWS-163282806.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722194528/http://www.uptownmag.com/arts/features/WINNIPEG-FRINGE-THEATRE-FESTIVAL-REVIEWS-163282806.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=July 22, 2012|access-date=July 28, 2012}} * For the assertion that the voices are ghosts, see {{Cite news |newspaper=[[The Chronicle Herald]]|location=Halifax|author=Stephen Pedersen|title=Preachy tone blunts power of She Has a Name|date=July 5, 2012|url=http://thechronicleherald.ca/artslife/113898-preachy-tone-blunts-power-of-she-has-a-name|access-date=August 1, 2012}} * For the actors who portray the voices, see {{Cite news |newspaper=[[Edmonton Journal]]|author=Liz Nicholls|title=Theatre review: Performances outshine writing in vivid activist play|date=September 26, 2012|url=http://global.factiva.com/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&NS=16&AID=9DAL000300&an=CWNS000020120926e89q00ojx&cat=a&ep=ASI|access-date=March 18, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref> While these voices sometimes emphasize the horrors of the sex industry, at other times, they offer comfort to Number 18. It is only revealed at the play's conclusion that the chorus is made up of dead child prostitutes.
==Plot summary== [[File:She Has a Name 2012 - Pimp.jpg|thumb|250px|alt=A photograph of five people, three of whom are wearing white cloaks, one of whom is wearing a red shirt, and the remaining one of whom is holding a gun|Number 18 is regularly abused despite being her pimp's favourite prostitute.]]
A pimp rapes Number 18 in a bar, then enslaves her sexually. Number 18's father died when she was young and her family struggled to support her thereafter. Strangers took her from her home in Cambodia as a child, replaced her name with a number, and prostituted her in various countries. Number 18 ends up in the [[Child prostitution in Thailand|Thai child prostitution industry]]. Most of her clients are rich men, many of them foreign tourists. In a brothel and bar called The Pearl, Number 18 is kept in a dark room containing only a table and a dilapidated bed. Whenever she fails to follow the orders of Mama, the brothel-keeper, Mama shouts at her and beats her. Number 18 prays for a man to come and save her from these ordeals. At the same time she becomes the most elegant and highly sought-after prostitute at The Pearl and her pimp's favourite. She becomes very proficient in pleasing men sexually but also remains childlike—she dries her face with her skirt and plays with its hem.
Jason starts work with an NGO in Thailand, having left his wife and children in Canada and abandoned a lucrative job at his father-in-law's legal firm. He communicates with his wife Ali over [[Skype]]. Jason's first task is to find witnesses to or survivors from a human-trafficking incident and then to shut down the brothels into which they have been trafficked; his boss Marta sends him into the brothels as she cannot enter herself. His specific focus is an Asia-wide brothel ring's trafficking of girls into Bangkok for prostitution as part of the [[child sex tourism]] industry. An abandoned storage truck has been discovered containing the bodies of dead sex workers. Attempting to build a legal case against the brothel ring, Jason pays to see prostitutes in the hope that one of them witnessed the incident. The first prostitute he sees is Number 18, whose attempts to seduce him make him uneasy. Thinking Number 18 could be a key witness, he tries to persuade her to testify. The other prostitutes Jason encounters are too afraid to give evidence. Number 18 answers some of Jason's questions about where she is from, where she has worked, and how long she has been working, but only on the condition that Jason pay 100 [[Thai baht|baht]] for each response. She reveals that she has been [[Prostitution in Thailand|prostituted in Thailand]] and [[Prostitution in Malaysia|Malaysia]].
[[File:She Has a Name 2011 - Death.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A photograph of four people, the leftmost three of whom are women wearing white cloaks and the remaining person being a kneeling man|After her pimp kills her, Number 18 joins the chorus of dead child prostitutes.]]
It is revealed that Number 18 was one of the girls in the storage truck, but that she escaped and ended up at The Pearl. Traumatized, she does not understand what Jason wants. She knows that every girl who has talked about the storage truck incident has been killed and is therefore reluctant to testify. One night Number 18 is injured in a party at the brothel and can barely walk when Jason visits. When he tells Ali about his experiences, she begs him to come home, but Jason believes he is in Bangkok by [[divine providence]]. Number 18 comes to understand that Jason is not like the other men who frequent The Pearl, and agrees to trust him and testify against the brothel ring if he can rescue her.
Jason pays Number 18's pimp enough money to take her out of the brothel for a weekend. Before he arrives to take her away, however, Mama finds and confiscates the money Jason has previously paid Number 18, and correctly guesses that he does not intend to bring her back. When Jason arrives to collect Number 18, Mama tells him she is dead and offers a refund. Believing Number 18 is still alive, Jason becomes violent. Mama mocks him, saying the Western culture he is part of is hedonistic and responsible for people in the [[Third World]] being sexually trafficked. Jason stops short of hurting Mama and leaves to report to Marta. Through her connections, Marta discovers that Number 18 is alive. Marta tries to save Number 18, posing as a lawyer protecting Number 18's rights. The pimp forces Marta off with a gun. When Jason makes another attempt to rescue Number 18, the pimp kills her. Number 18 joins the chorus of dead child prostitutes who have been watching over and commenting on events throughout the play.
==Productions==
===Initial run=== [[File:She Has a Name 2011 - Grooming.jpg|thumb|alt=A photograph of five people, four of which are women, the rightmost three of whom are wearing white cloaks and the remaining woman being embraced by the man|The 2011 cast ''(left to right)'': Denise Wong, Aaron Krogman, Cari Russell, Glenda Warkentin, and Sienna Howell-Holden]]
The stage premiere of ''She Has a Name'' was directed by Waldschmidt, who was also the [[scenic design]]er.<ref>For Waldschmidt's directoral role, see {{Cite news |title = Local director shines light on global crisis|author = Sara Wilson|journal = The Strathmore Standard|date = January 12, 2011|url=http://www.strathmorestandard.com/2011/01/12/local-director-shines-light-on-global-crisis|access-date=March 16, 2013}} * For Waldschmidt's scenic designer role, see {{Cite news|journal=The Strathmore Standard|title=Local church hosts world-class {{sic|rehersals|nolink=y}}|author=Sara Wilson|date=February 22, 2011 |url=http://www.strathmorestandard.com/2011/02/22/local-church-hosts-world-class-rehersals|access-date=March 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228030446/http://www.strathmorestandard.com/2011/02/22/local-church-hosts-world-class-rehersals |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-02-28 }}</ref> Aaron Krogman was selected to portray Jason and the unnamed pimp, Sienna Howell-Holden to portray Mama, Glenda Warkentin to portray Marta, Denise Wong to portray Number 18, and Cari Russell to portray Ali.<ref>For the casting of Krogman, Howell-Holden, and Warkentin, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Calgary Sun]]|title=Calgary's She Has a Name a 'heart-wrenching' hit|author=Louis Hobson|date=February 24, 2011|url=http://www.calgarysun.com/entertainment/columnists/louis_hobson/2011/02/24/17398956.html|access-date=July 22, 2012|archive-date=June 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627181646/http://www.calgarysun.com/entertainment/columnists/louis_hobson/2011/02/24/17398956.html|url-status=dead}} * For the casting of Wong and Russell, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Fast Forward Weekly]]|location=Calgary|date=February 17, 2011|author=Krista Sylvester|access-date=July 21, 2012|title=They all have a name|url=http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/arts/theatre/they-all-have-a-name-7022/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828173601/http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/arts/theatre/they-all-have-a-name-7022/|archive-date=August 28, 2011}}</ref> Waldschmidt suggested that Warkentin audition for the play after seeing her perform at Rosebud Theatre in Rosebud, Alberta.<ref name=Lethbridge>{{Cite news |newspaper=[[Lethbridge Herald]]|author=Al Beeber|date=May 11, 2012|title=She has a name}}</ref> Wong, Krogman, and Kooman spoke highly of Waldschmidt's directing, and Kooman praised Waldschmidt's work as scenic designer.<ref name=Standard>{{Cite news |journal = The Strathmore Standard|title = Local church hosts world-class rehersals (sic)|author = Sara Wilson|date=February 22, 2011|url=http://www.strathmorestandard.com/2011/02/22/local-church-hosts-world-class-rehersals|access-date=March 16, 2013}}</ref> Waldschmidt praised the cast's acting.<ref name=CFUV>{{Cite news |publisher=[[CFUV-FM]]|location=Victoria|title=She Has a Name|url=http://cfuvfringefestival.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/she-has-a-name/|access-date=August 24, 2012}}</ref> He said he found the play's opening scene, in which a rape occurs, the most difficult to stage, despite having previously performed a similar rape scene as an actor.<ref name=Project/> The premiere of ''She Has a Name'' was produced by Burnt Thicket Theatre in partnership with Raise Their Voice.<ref name=Charlebois>{{Cite news |newspaper=The Charlebois Post|title=Event: She Has a Name (Fringe)|date=June 12, 2012|url=http://www.charpo-montreal.com/2012/06/event-she-has-name-fringe.html|access-date=July 24, 2012}}</ref><ref name=Sunrise>{{Cite news |newspaper=Country Sunrise News|location=Red Deer|title=Locally Grown Play She Has a Name|volume=15|issue=3|date=April 2012|page=1}}</ref> The office of [[Joy Smith]], MP for [[Kildonan—St. Paul]], released a statement advertising the premiere of ''She Has a Name''.<ref>For Smith's electoral district, see {{Cite news|title=Burnt Thicket Theatre presents She Has A Name by Andrew Kooman|newspaper=[[Winnipeg Free Press]]|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/events/161478665.html|access-date=August 24, 2012}} * For the statement released by Smith's office, see {{Cite web|publisher=Hope for the Sold|author=Michelle Brock|title=She Has a Name: A Play About Human Trafficking|date=February 25, 2011|url=http://hopeforthesold.com/she-has-a-name-a-play-about-human-trafficking/|access-date=August 24, 2012|archive-date=December 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221225300/http://hopeforthesold.com/she-has-a-name-a-play-about-human-trafficking/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The premiere took place at the [[EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts]] in Calgary in February 2011.<ref name=Strathmore/> Performances were scheduled to run on the centre's Motel stage between February 23 and March 5.<ref>For the location of the performances, see {{Cite news|title=Raise the curtain on a new year of theatre|author=Kevin Rushworth|date=January 19, 2011|publisher=The Reflector|location=Calgary|url=http://www.thereflector.ca/2011/01/19/raise-the-curtain-on-a-new-year-of-theatre/|access-date=July 21, 2012}} * For the dates of the performances, see {{Cite news |title = Local director shines light on global crisis|author = Sara Wilson|journal = The Strathmore Standard|date = January 12, 2011|url=http://www.strathmorestandard.com/2011/01/12/local-director-shines-light-on-global-crisis|access-date=March 16, 2013}} </ref> Tickets quickly sold out.<ref name=Times/> Four days after the premiere, Burnt Thicket Theatre moved the play to the [[Scott Block Theatre]] in Red Deer, where the play was scheduled to be performed until March 12.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Human Trafficking – Joy's HT Updates – February 2011 Update |publisher=[[Joy Smith]] |year=2011 |url=http://www.joysmith.ca/main.asp?fxoid=FXMenu,3&cat_ID=27&sub_ID=106&sub2_ID=40 |access-date=November 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722154456/http://www.joysmith.ca/main.asp?fxoid=FXMenu%2C3&cat_ID=27&sub_ID=106&sub2_ID=40 |archive-date=July 22, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> All the performances in Red Deer were sold out.<ref name=Sunrise/> The play drew emotional reactions from the audience.<ref name=Gauntlet>{{Cite news |newspaper=[[Gauntlet (newspaper)|Gauntlet]]|location=Calgary|title=She Has a Name and a story, too: Theatre performance tours Canada to raise awareness about human trafficking in Southeast Asia|author=Pauline Anunciacion|date=February 16, 2012|volume=52|issue=30|page=8}}</ref><ref name=Justice>{{cite web|publisher=[[International Justice Mission]]|title=Play exposes realities of human trafficking|date=May 30, 2012|url=http://www.ijm.ca/news/News/437|access-date=July 27, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213014706/http://www.ijm.ca/news/News/437|archive-date=December 13, 2014}}</ref><ref name=Huntley>{{Cite video|people=Natalie Faith|title=She Has a Name|publisher=100 Huntley Street|location=Burlington|date=June 27, 2012|url=http://www.100huntley.com/video?id=6VFfblaYp-k|access-date=July 30, 2012|archive-date=December 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213023137/http://www.100huntley.com/video?id=6VFfblaYp-k|url-status=dead}}</ref> Kooman learned that some audience members at the initial performances later responded to the play by talking with others about human trafficking, writing letters to their Members of Parliament, and doing other creative things on the subject.<ref name=Justice/> They also contacted Waldschmidt, sometimes up to a year later, with stories about how the play had continued to affect their lives.<ref name=Huntley/> In conjunction with the initial run of ''She Has a Name'', Burnt Thicket Theatre provided the names of [[List of organizations opposing human trafficking|organizations that assist human-trafficking victims]].<ref name=Advocate/> There was also a panel discussion about human trafficking after the matinée on February 26.<ref name=Times>{{Cite news |date=March 18, 2011|newspaper=Strathmore Times|title=She has a name|author=Shannon LeClair|url=http://strathmoretimes.com/March-18-2011-Strathmore-Times/she-has-a-name.html|access-date=July 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029191857/http://strathmoretimes.com/March-18-2011-Strathmore-Times/she-has-a-name.html|archive-date=October 29, 2013}}</ref>
===Pre-tour revisions and readings===
[[File:She Has a Name 2012 - Conflict.jpg|thumb|alt=A photograph of a man and a woman, both wearing dress shirts and jeans, the woman also wearing a necklace and a watch, all in front of a painted backdrop|Jason and Marta arguing in a 2012 performance. The scenes involving these two characters were altered considerably following the premiere.]]
After the play's initial run, Kooman revised the script, making prominent changes in the scenes involving Jason and Marta.<ref>For the time of Kooman's revision of the script, see {{Cite news|magazine=L.A. Beat|location=Lethbridge|title=Glenda Warkentin returns home to perform She Has A Name|author=Richard Amery|date=May 18, 2012|url=http://labeat.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2166:glenda-warkentin-returns-home-to-perform-she-has-a-name&catid=34:drama-latest&Itemid=58|access-date=July 27, 2012}}{{Dead link|date=March 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }} * For the focus of Kooman's revision of the script, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Red Deer Advocate]]|author=Lana Michelin|date=May 15, 2012|title=Playwright tells story of human trafficking|url=http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/local/Playwright_tells_story_of_human_trafficking_151546395.html|access-date=January 16, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref> In the version performed at the premiere, the two characters debate issues of human rights on a solely philosophical level, while in the new version, Marta makes real demands of Jason, making their interactions more dynamic.<ref>For the description of Marta's interactions with Jason in the two versions of the play, see {{Cite news |journal = [[Red Deer Advocate]]|author = Lara Michelin|title = Powerful play returning home|date=September 24, 2012|url = http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/local/Powerful_play_returning_home_171009181.html |access-date = January 16, 2013}}{{subscription required}} * For the assertion that the changes made Marta's interactions with Jason more dynamic, see {{Cite news |newspaper=[[Red Deer Advocate]]|author=Lana Michelin|date=May 15, 2012|title=Playwright tells story of human trafficking |url = http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/local/Playwright_tells_story_of_human_trafficking_151546395.html|access-date = January 16, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Kooman made Jason's wife Ali more patient and understanding in dealing with Jason's lengthy absences from home and removed the [[intermission]].<ref>For the changes in Ali's character, see {{Cite news |newspaper=[[Red Deer Advocate]]|author=Lana Michelin|date=October 4, 2012|title=She Has a Name returns with more emotional punch|url = http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/local/She_Has_A_Name_returns_with_more_emotional_punch_172677831.html|access-date = January 16, 2013}}{{subscription required}} * For the removal of the intermission, see {{Cite news |journal = [[Red Deer Advocate]]|author = Lara Michelin|title = Powerful play returning home|date=September 24, 2012|url = http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/local/Powerful_play_returning_home_171009181.html |access-date = January 16, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref> According to reviewer Lana Michelin of the ''Red Deer Advocate'', Kooman's changes strengthened the emotional pull of the play.<ref name=Playwright>{{Cite news |newspaper=[[Red Deer Advocate]]|author=Lana Michelin|date=May 15, 2012|title=Playwright tells story of human trafficking |url = http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/local/Playwright_tells_story_of_human_trafficking_151546395.html|access-date = January 16, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref name=Lana>{{Cite news |newspaper=[[Red Deer Advocate]]|author=Lana Michelin|date=October 4, 2012|title=She Has a Name returns with more emotional punch|url = http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/local/She_Has_A_Name_returns_with_more_emotional_punch_172677831.html|access-date = January 16, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Because of the amount of interest in ''She Has a Name'' in 2011, not enough tickets were available for the initial run, and a second run was planned for the end of 2011.<ref name=Radio/><ref name=Gazette>{{Cite news |newspaper=[[Montreal Gazette]]|title=Fringe 2012: Alberta group's play explores human trafficking|author=Pat Donnelly|date=June 15, 2012|page=C5}}</ref> To finance [[2012 tour of She Has a Name|a tour of the play]], Burnt Thicket Theatre raised money through fundraisers, which included the 2011 Calgary [[Ride for Refuge]].<ref name=Journal>{{Cite news|newspaper=The Calgary Journal|title=Ride for Refuge bike ride raises money to end sex trafficking: Organizer says event exceeded expectations|author=James Wilt|date=October 18, 2011|url=http://www.calgaryjournal.ca/index.php/ourcity/news/175-ride-for-refuge-bike-ride-raises-money-to-end-sex-trafficking|access-date=July 26, 2012|archive-date=October 21, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111021013821/http://www.calgaryjournal.ca/index.php/ourcity/news/175-ride-for-refuge-bike-ride-raises-money-to-end-sex-trafficking|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Cowley>{{Cite news |newspaper=[[Red Deer Advocate]] |author=Paul Cowley |title='Power of hope' helps save child from sexual exploitation |date=October 9, 2012 |url = http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/news/local/Power_of_hope_helps_save_child_from_sexual_exploitation_173286971.html|access-date = January 16, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref>
In August 2011, extracts from ''She Has a Name'' were read at a conference in Strathmore called Justice Tapestry.<ref name=Anchor>{{Cite news |newspaper=The Anchor Weekly|location=Chestermere|title=Conference Aims To Expose The Realities Of Human Trafficking: Justice Tapestry Using Art To Inspire An End To Exploitation|author=Rachael Frey|date=August 10, 2011|url=http://www.theanchor.ca/2011/conference-aims-to-expose-the-realities-of-human-trafficking/|access-date=July 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105231449/http://www.theanchor.ca/2011/conference-aims-to-expose-the-realities-of-human-trafficking/|archive-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> A reading of the play took place during an event at [[Mount Royal University]] on February 16, 2012, which also included a speech by Yvon Dandurand on the subject of human trafficking, and a book signing by [[John Winterdyk]] for his book ''Human Trafficking: Exploring the International Nature, Concerns, and Complexities''.<ref name=Canadian>{{cite web|date=February 16, 2012|publisher=[[Mount Royal University]]|location=Calgary|title=Human Trafficking: She Has a Name|url=http://www.mtroyal.ca/news/evView.php?item=1643|access-date=December 12, 2014}}</ref>
===2012 tour=== [[File:She Has a Name 2012 - Death.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A photograph of five people, four of whom are women in white cloaks and the other of whom is a man wearing a dress shirt over a black shirt|The 2012 cast ''(left to right)'': Sienna Howell-Holden, Glenda Warkentin, Evelyn Chew, Carl Kennedy, and Alysa van Haastert]]
The 2012 tour of ''She Has a Name'' was a [[fringe theatre]] tour across Canada.<ref>{{Cite news |newspaper=[[Calgary Herald]]|author=Bob Clark|author2=Stephen Hunt |date=August 2, 2012|title=Fringe Picks: Eight shows that caught our attention|url=http://global.factiva.com/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&NS=16&AID=9DAL000300&an=CWNS000020120803e882002mh&cat=a&ep=ASI|access-date=March 18, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref> The performances were co-produced by Burnt Thicket Theatre and Raise Their Voice and were directed by Waldschmidt.<ref>For the production information, see {{Cite news |newspaper=[[Calgary Herald]]|title=She Has a Name to tour Canada|date=April 6, 2012|page=C1}} * For the directoral information, see {{Cite news |newspaper=The Charlebois Post|title=Event: She Has a Name (Fringe)|date=June 12, 2012|url=http://www.charpo-montreal.com/2012/06/event-she-has-name-fringe.html|access-date=July 24, 2012}}</ref> Carl Kennedy portrayed Jason, Evelyn Chew portrayed Number 18, Alysa van Haastert portrayed Ali, and Warkentin and Howell-Holden returned as Marta and Mama.<ref name=Nicholls>{{Cite news |newspaper=[[Edmonton Journal]]|author=Liz Nicholls|title=Theatre review: Performances outshine writing in vivid activist play|date=September 26, 2012|url=http://global.factiva.com/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&NS=16&AID=9DAL000300&an=CWNS000020120926e89q00ojx&cat=a&ep=ASI|access-date=March 18, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref> To avoid giving the impression that human trafficking is limited to Asia, the producers deliberately cast actors who were not of Asian descent.<ref name=Gauntlet/>
The tour started on May 23 in [[Lethbridge]] and went on to the other Canadian cities of [[Saskatoon]], [[Ottawa]], [[Montreal]], [[Halifax Regional Municipality|Halifax]], [[London, Ontario|London]], [[Winnipeg]], Calgary, [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]], Vancouver, [[Kelowna]], Edmonton, and Red Deer.<ref>For the first five performance locations, see {{Cite news |newspaper=[[Calgary Herald]]|title=She Has a Name to tour Canada|date=April 6, 2012|page=C1}} * For the performances in London, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[London Free Press]]|title=Innocent victims at risk: Canadian play based on real-life human trafficking event|author=Joe Belanger|date=July 10, 2012|url=https://lfpress.com/entertainment/stage/2012/07/10/19972026.html|access-date=July 25, 2012|archive-date=November 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104141443/http://www.lfpress.com/entertainment/stage/2012/07/10/19972026.html|url-status=dead}} * For the performances in Winnipeg, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Winnipeg Free Press]]|author=Kevin Prokosh|title=She Has a Name|date=July 17, 2012|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/fringe/reviews/She-Has-a-Name-162130445.html?viewAllComments=y|access-date=July 28, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803014243/http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/fringe/reviews/She-Has-a-Name-162130445.html?viewAllComments=y|archive-date=August 3, 2012}} * For the performances in Calgary, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Calgary Herald]]|title=Fringe Review: She Has a Name|date=August 4, 2012|author=Stephen Hunt|url=http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2012/08/04/fringe-review-she-has-a-name/|access-date=August 6, 2012|archive-date=October 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030215948/http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2012/08/04/fringe-review-she-has-a-name/|url-status=dead}} * For the performances in Victoria, see {{Cite web|title=Pick of the Fringe!|date=September 3, 2012|publisher=[[Intrepid Theatre#Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival|Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival]]|url=http://www.victoriafringe.com/blog/pick-of-the-fringe/|access-date=September 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121123060715/http://www.victoriafringe.com/blog/pick-of-the-fringe/|archive-date=November 23, 2012}} * For the performances in Vancouver, see {{Cite web|publisher=Vancouverplays.com|date=August 2012|volume=98|title=She Has a Name|url=http://www.vancouverplays.com/theatre/previews_theatre/preview_fringe_12_she_has_a_name.shtml|access-date=September 11, 2012}} * For the performances in Kelowna, see {{Cite news|newspaper=Kelowna Capital News|date=September 17, 2012|title=Award-winning play coming to Kelowna|url=http://www.kelownacapnews.com/entertainment/170109746.html|access-date=September 18, 2012|archive-date=October 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005004956/http://www.kelownacapnews.com/entertainment/170109746.html|url-status=dead}} * For the performances in Edmonton, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Edmonton Journal]]|author=Liz Nicholls|title=Theatre review: Performances outshine writing in vivid activist play|date=September 26, 2012|url=http://global.factiva.com/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&NS=16&AID=9DAL000300&an=CWNS000020120926e89q00ojx&cat=a&ep=ASI|access-date=March 18, 2013}}{{subscription required}} * For the performances in Red Deer, see {{Cite news|newspaper=Red Deer Express|author=Mark Weber|title=Acclaimed local playwright wraps successful tour|date=September 26, 2012|url=http://www.reddeerexpress.com/news/Acclaimed_local_playwright_wraps_successful_tour_171342971.html|access-date=September 30, 2012|archive-date=November 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117152927/http://www.reddeerexpress.com/news/Acclaimed_local_playwright_wraps_successful_tour_171342971.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> London was added mid-tour because of popular demand.<ref name=London>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[London Free Press]]|title=Innocent victims at risk: Canadian play based on real-life human trafficking event|author=Joe Belanger|date=July 10, 2012|url=https://lfpress.com/entertainment/stage/2012/07/10/19972026.html|access-date=July 25, 2012|archive-date=November 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104141443/http://www.lfpress.com/entertainment/stage/2012/07/10/19972026.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The London performances were hosted by Men Against Sexual Trafficking and the London Anti-Human Trafficking Committee.<ref name=Community/> The final performances of the tour were conducted at the [[Scott Block Theatre]] in Red Deer from October 2 to 6.<ref>{{Cite news|newspaper=Red Deer Express|title=Support Magdalene House|date=August 15, 2012|url=http://www.reddeerexpress.com/opinion/Support_Magdalene_House_166266536.html?mobile=true|access-date=August 23, 2012|archive-date=December 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211215215/http://www.reddeerexpress.com/opinion/Support_Magdalene_House_166266536.html?mobile=true|url-status=dead}}</ref> After the Saturday matinée in each city, a panel discussion was held with both the audience and anyone else who wanted to attend, the purpose being to raise awareness about [[human trafficking in Canada]] and elsewhere.<ref>For the time of the panel discussions, see {{Cite news |title=She Has a Name returns |author=Shannon LeClair |date=April 20, 2012 |newspaper=Strathmore Times |url=http://www.strathmoretimes.com/April-20-2012-Strathmore-Times/she-has-a-name-returns.html |access-date=July 30, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210004007/http://www.strathmoretimes.com/April-20-2012-Strathmore-Times/she-has-a-name-returns.html|archive-date=December 10, 2013}} * For the makeup of the panel discussion audiences and the purpose of the discussions, see {{Cite news |journal = [[Red Deer Advocate]]|author = Lara Michelin|title = Powerful play returning home|date=September 24, 2012|url = http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/local/Powerful_play_returning_home_171009181.html|access-date = January 16, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref> The final talkback panel in Red Deer was attended by about 70 people.<ref name=Cowley />
[[A Better World (organization)|A Better World]] partnered with Raise Their Voice to raise funds throughout the tour to help women and children who had been [[Human trafficking in Thailand|trafficked in Thailand]] as part of the country's prostitution industry.<ref name=Zielinski>{{Cite news |newspaper=[[Red Deer Advocate]]|author=Susan Zielinski|title=Groups helping sex trade victims |date=September 21, 2012 |url = http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/news/local/Groups_helping_sex_trade_victims_170615546.html |access-date = January 16, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Kooman stated that he had "a 'pinch me' sort of feeling that [the 2012 tour] has happened, and that there is interest beyond this tour".<ref name=Weber>{{Cite news|newspaper=Red Deer Express|author=Mark Weber|title=Acclaimed local playwright wraps successful tour|date=September 26, 2012|url=http://www.reddeerexpress.com/news/Acclaimed_local_playwright_wraps_successful_tour_171342971.html|access-date=September 30, 2012|archive-date=November 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117152927/http://www.reddeerexpress.com/news/Acclaimed_local_playwright_wraps_successful_tour_171342971.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Cynthia Foster, who attended one of the performances during the tour, went on to produce and direct the first school production, with students at Strathcona Christian Academy Secondary School acting in two performances at La Cite in Edmonton in November 2014. Kooman was scheduled to facilitate a discussion about sex trafficking with the audience after each performance.<ref>{{Cite news|newspaper=Sherwood Park News|title=School play talks human rights|author=Megan Voss|date=November 20, 2014|url=http://www.sherwoodparknews.com/2014/11/20/school-play-talks-human-rights|access-date=December 13, 2014|archive-date=December 14, 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141214030545/http://www.sherwoodparknews.com/2014/11/20/school-play-talks-human-rights|url-status=dead}}</ref>
===Performances in the United States=== The first performances of ''She Has a Name'' in the United States were produced by FreeFall Stage in a rented space at Victory Life Church in [[Folsom, California|Folsom]], California in 2014 under the direction of Emma Eldridge, who was a 23-year-old college student at the time.<ref>For the statement that these were the first performances in the country, see {{Cite video|title=Folsom theatre tackles human trafficking epidemic|publisher=[[KXTV]]|location=Sacramento, California|date=May 17, 2014|url=http://www.news10.net/videos/life/2014/05/17/9224607/|access-date=December 13, 2014}}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} * For the location, year, and director, see {{Cite news|newspaper=The Folsom Telegraph|author=Gerry Camp|date=May 6, 2014|title=Play casts light on shadows of human trafficking|url=http://www.folsomtelegraph.com/article/play-casts-light-shadows-human-trafficking|access-date=December 13, 2014}} * For Eldridge's age, see {{Cite news|publisher=[[KXJZ]]|location=Sacramento, California|author=Beth Ruyak|date=June 3, 2014|title=She Has a Name|url=http://www.capradio.org/news/insight/2014/06/03/insight-060314/|access-date=December 13, 2014}}</ref> She and her sister had become passionate about the issue of human trafficking as a result of their involvement with the organization [[Run for Courage]], and the two sisters considered writing a play about [[human trafficking in the United States]]. Because they were both college students, they did not find the time to write a play, so in 2013, their mother, Deedee Eldridge, began looking for a human-trafficking-related play that had already been written and she discovered ''She Has a Name''.<ref name=KXTV/> It was the only play she was able to find on the subject of human trafficking. Emma Eldridge later said of ''She Has a Name'', "I've never read something and been so compelled to do it."<ref name=KXJZ/> The family decided to stage the play, and Deedee Eldridge served as producer and executive director.<ref name=KXTV>{{Cite video|title=Folsom theatre tackles human trafficking epidemic|publisher=[[KXTV]]|location=Sacramento, California|date=May 17, 2014|url=http://www.news10.net/videos/life/2014/05/17/9224607/|access-date=December 13, 2014}}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> To have the rights to produce the play, FreeFall Stage made a special arrangement with the [[Playwrights Guild of Canada]].<ref name=Sacramento>{{Cite magazine|magazine=[[Sacramento (magazine)|Sacramento]]|title=She Has a Name|author=Jessica Laskey|date=May 14, 2014|url=http://www.sacmag.com/Go-Do/Go-Do-Blog/Winter-Spring-2014/She-Has-a-Name/|access-date=December 13, 2014|archive-date=May 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140525231432/http://www.sacmag.com/Go-Do/Go-Do-Blog/Winter-Spring-2014/She-Has-a-Name/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
For these initial performances in 2014, the characters of Jason and the pimp were portrayed by different actors; Chris Quandt portrayed Jason and Arturo Gonzalez portrayed the pimp.<ref name=Folsom/> The role of Number 18 was taken on by Supatchaya "Jazz" Sunpanich, who was born in Thailand. Emma Eldridge attested to crying at the first rehearsal as a result of being moved by the intensity of Sunpanich's performance.<ref name=KXJZ>{{Cite news|publisher=[[KXJZ]]|location=Sacramento, California|author=Beth Ruyak|date=June 3, 2014|title=She Has a Name|url=http://www.capradio.org/news/insight/2014/06/03/insight-060314/|access-date=December 13, 2014}}</ref> In these performances, Ali was portrayed by Brianna Flynn and Adison Kingsley, Marta by Marybeth Moore and Janine Romney, and Mama by Sara Matsui-Colby. The voices were separately portrayed by Caitlyn Wardell, Bonnie Antignani, and Jeannette Baisch.<ref name=Folsom/> These performances were staged in partnership with Run for Courage, which had representatives at each performance.<ref name=KXTV/> Performances were scheduled to run from May 2 to June 22.<ref name=KXJZ/>
FreeFall Stage discouraged people under the age of fifteen from attending because of the subject matter of the play, but encouraged older teenagers to attend because teenagers are at the greatest risk of being trafficked.<ref name=Sacramento/> Several human trafficking survivors attended the performances, and other survivors sent the Eldridges messages about their personal experiences with human trafficking. Quandt said that he encountered many audience members who, because of watching the play, became determined to do something to combat human trafficking.<ref name=KXJZ/>
===Film=== {{main|She Has a Name (film)}} By February 2012, Kooman was working on a screenplay version of ''She Has a Name''.<ref name=Gauntlet/> The idea of a [[stage-to-film adaptation]] of ''She Has a Name'' was also independently suggested by Pat Donnelly of the ''[[Montreal Gazette]]''.<ref name=Fringe>{{Cite news|title=Montreal Fringe Festival: No Fixed Abode, She Has a Name, The Harvester|newspaper=[[Montreal Gazette]]|author=Pat Donnelly|date=June 17, 2012|url=http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2012/06/17/montreal-fringe-festival-no-fixed-abode-she-has-a-name-the-harvester/|access-date=July 31, 2012|archive-date=November 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114040257/http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2012/06/17/montreal-fringe-festival-no-fixed-abode-she-has-a-name-the-harvester/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2014, Kooman and his younger brothers, Daniel and Matthew, [[Location scouting|scouted locations]] in Cambodia in preparation for the film.<ref>{{Cite web |publisher=Red Deer Living|title=Andrew Kooman: Storyteller, visionary, activist|page=13|author=Laurette Woodward|date=Summer 2014|url=https://digital.sourcemediagroup.ca/RedDeerLiving/summer2014/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141214023531/https://digital.sourcemediagroup.ca/RedDeerLiving/summer2014/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-12-14|access-date=December 13, 2014}}</ref>
==Themes== [[File:Stephen Waldschmidt.jpg|thumb|alt=A photograph of a man with blue-green eyes looking at the viewer, smiling, and wearing a brown shirt all in front of a sheet of black material|[[Stephen Waldschmidt]] said that the sympathetic portrayal of the perpetrators prevents the play from becoming simplistic.]]
Kooman made justice the focus of ''She Has a Name'';<ref>{{Cite web |title=living an 'Ah Ha' moment|author=Lani Ledingham|publisher=[[Red Deer College]] Notebook|date=October 2010|url=http://my.texterity.com/notebook/note2010fall?sub_id=Rjp3BhSqrYso#pg13|access-date=July 21, 2012}}</ref> the social issues that interest him include poverty, the [[Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS|HIV/AIDS epidemic]], and the [[effects of war]].<ref name=Weber/> The central issues in ''She Has a Name'' are gender-based.<ref name=Gazette/> The general topic of the play is human trafficking{{mdash}}specifically the [[trafficking of children]] into [[sexual slavery]].<ref>For the general topic of the play, see {{Cite news|title = Local director shines light on global crisis|author = Sara Wilson|journal = The Strathmore Standard|date = January 12, 2011|url = http://www.strathmorestandard.com/2011/01/12/local-director-shines-light-on-global-crisis|access-date = March 16, 2013}} * For the specific topic of the play, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Calgary Sun]]|title=Calgary's She Has a Name a 'heart-wrenching' hit|author=Louis Hobson|date=February 24, 2011|url=http://www.calgarysun.com/entertainment/columnists/louis_hobson/2011/02/24/17398956.html|access-date=July 22, 2012|archive-date=June 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627181646/http://www.calgarysun.com/entertainment/columnists/louis_hobson/2011/02/24/17398956.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Kooman has stated that ''She Has a Name'' "suggests that justice can only be realized if real people know, care and take informed and decisive action."<ref name=Fast>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[Fast Forward Weekly]]|location=Calgary|date=February 17, 2011|author=Krista Sylvester|access-date=July 21, 2012|title=They all have a name|url=http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/arts/theatre/they-all-have-a-name-7022/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828173601/http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/arts/theatre/they-all-have-a-name-7022/|archive-date=August 28, 2011}}</ref> The victimized child in the play is known only by the number 18 to reflect that traffickers often dehumanize their victims by giving them a new name or simply a number, which in some cases is [[Human branding|branded]] onto the victim's body.<ref name=Community/> After his rape of Number 18, the pimp leaves the situation without adverse effect, but Number 18 is left bleeding from her crotch and mouth.<ref name=Anna>{{Cite news|newspaper=St. Albert Gazette|author=Anna Borowiecki|title=Humanity's ugliness exposed in She Has A Name: Show about sex trade is gut-wrenching, disturbing|date=September 27, 2012|url=http://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/20120927/SAG0302/309279998/humanity-s-ugliness-exposed-in-she-has-a-name|access-date=October 1, 2012|archive-date=December 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216054544/http://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/20120927/SAG0302/309279998/humanity-s-ugliness-exposed-in-she-has-a-name|url-status=dead}}</ref> The play invites viewers to feel sympathetic towards Number 18, and, although the world of human trafficking is depicted as horrific and ugly, both the victims and perpetrators of human trafficking are portrayed as relatable characters, suggesting that every individual has inherent value and dignity.<ref>For the way that the play invites viewers to feel towards Number 18, see {{Cite news|newspaper=Victoria News|title=Moving play, She Has a Name, comes with a message|date=February 16, 2012|url=http://www.vicnews.com/entertainment/139460168.html|access-date=July 26, 2012|archive-date=December 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211041737/http://www.vicnews.com/entertainment/139460168.html|url-status=dead}} * For the play's depiction of human trafficking, see {{cite web|title=Tuesday, February 22, 2011|publisher=[[CKUA Radio Network]]|location=Edmonton|author=Kathleen Renne|date=February 22, 2011|url=http://www.ckua.com/02/22/11/Tuesday-February-22-2011/landing.html?blockID=415499&feedID=7643|access-date=July 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828180919/http://www.ckua.com/02/22/11/Tuesday-February-22-2011/landing.html?blockID=415499&feedID=7643|archive-date=August 28, 2011}} * For the play's portrayal of human trafficking victims and perpetrators, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Fast Forward Weekly]]|location=Calgary|date=February 17, 2011|author=Krista Sylvester|access-date=July 21, 2012|title=They all have a name|url=http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/arts/theatre/they-all-have-a-name-7022/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828173601/http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/arts/theatre/they-all-have-a-name-7022/|archive-date=August 28, 2011}} * For what the play suggests about individuals' value and dignity, see {{Cite news |newspaper=[[Gauntlet (newspaper)|Gauntlet]]|location=Calgary|title=She Has a Name and a story, too: Theatre performance tours Canada to raise awareness about human trafficking in Southeast Asia|author=Pauline Anunciacion|date=February 16, 2012|volume=52|issue=30|page=8}}</ref> In an interview with ''The Calgary Journal'' prior to the 2012 tour, Waldschmidt said that the sympathetic portrayal of the perpetrators prevents the play from becoming a simplistic story of good and evil.<ref name=Project/> According to Liz Nicholls of the ''[[Edmonton Journal]]'', Number 18 is a nuanced character, better-developed than the stock [[damsel in distress]].<ref name=Nicholls/>
[[File:She Has a Name 2012 - Skype.jpg|thumb|left|300px|alt=A photograph of a man wearing a dress shirt and blue jeans standing and leaning on a table opposite a blonde woman in a green dress|To depict the tension between Jason and Ali, the two communicate via [[Skype]], which is represented on stage by two laptops that are set up back-to-back.]]
Kooman said that the massive proportions of human trafficking often prevent people from dealing with it; he therefore chose to portray a single trafficked victim in the play so that audiences could approach the subject on a more workable level.<ref name=Advocate/> He hoped that audiences would avoid getting stuck in the statistics of human trafficking and would connect with a personal story.<ref name=Anchor/> The two questions that propel the story are: "Can [Jason] convince [Number 18] to risk her life to testify for the sake of justice?" and "Can he save her from the unthinkable circumstances?"<ref name=PGC/> Jason is weary and, although he never falls into self-pity, he comes to hate himself for his inability to save Number 18 from her slavery because he lacks the evidence he requires for his case to be successful in court.<ref>For Jason's weariness and self-hatred, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Calgary Sun]]|title=Calgary's She Has a Name a 'heart-wrenching' hit|author=Louis Hobson|date=February 24, 2011|url=http://www.calgarysun.com/entertainment/columnists/louis_hobson/2011/02/24/17398956.html|access-date=July 22, 2012|archive-date=June 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627181646/http://www.calgarysun.com/entertainment/columnists/louis_hobson/2011/02/24/17398956.html|url-status=dead}} * For Jason's lack of self-pity and evidence, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Red Deer Advocate]]|author=Lana Michelin|date=October 4, 2012|title=She Has a Name returns with more emotional punch|url=http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/local/She_Has_A_Name_returns_with_more_emotional_punch_172677831.html|access-date=January 16, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref>
Much of the play is concerned with demonstrating the immensity of the difficulties that face Jason in trying to rescue Number 18.<ref name=Nicholls/> For example, he finds it difficult to be away from his wife, and struggles with the decision of whether to continue his work or return to Canada.<ref name=Threat>{{Cite magazine |magazine=Art Threat|publisher=[[Canada Council]]|author=Amanda McCuaig|date=September 11, 2012|title=She Has a Name leaves you breathless: Play on human trafficking touches without playing the guilt card|url=http://artthreat.net/2012/09/she-has-a-name-fringe/|access-date=September 18, 2012}}</ref> To depict this tension, Jason and Ali communicate via Skype, represented on stage by two laptop computers placed back-to-back with Jason and Ali standing on either side facing one another. The two argue, but their interactions demonstrate the kind of love that Number 18 can only dream of.<ref name=Anna/> In the 2012 cross-Canada tour, a torn picture of Number 18's family remained on stage as scenery to emphasize what the character has lost. This picture took the form of a painted curtain held over a geometric floor pattern and depicted the family as tired, poor, and living in a shack.<ref name=Preachy/> Lana Michelin of the ''Red Deer Advocate'' said the most emotionally gripping scene was the one in which the voices cause Number 18 to recall the face of her dead father.<ref name=Lana/> Anna Borowiecki of the ''St. Albert Gazette'' called the play a story of "fallible people who find strength in each other under the worst conditions."<ref name=Anna/>
[[File:She Has a Name 2011 - Embrace.jpg|thumb|alt=A photograph of a man wearing a blue dress shirt and blue jeans and looking into the eyes of a woman wearing a brown shirt and a blue jean skirt|Aaron Krogman portrayed both Jason and the pimp in the premiere, and stated that "both characters are struggling with power and how they use it."]]
Denise Wong, the Calgarian actor who portrayed Number 18 in the premiere, said that the play was about the [[human condition]].<ref>For Wong's connection to the play, see {{Cite news|title=Play personalizes an industry that strips away identity|newspaper=[[Red Deer Advocate]]|author=Lana Michelin|date=February 25, 2011|url=http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/Play_personalizes_an_industry_that_strips_away_identity_116858973.html|access-date=July 22, 2012|archive-date=April 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409195749/http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/play_personalizes_an_industry_that_strips_away_identity_116858973.html|url-status=dead}} * For Wong's comment about the play, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Fast Forward Weekly]]|location=Calgary|date=February 17, 2011|author=Krista Sylvester|access-date=July 21, 2012|title=They all have a name|url=http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/arts/theatre/they-all-have-a-name-7022/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828173601/http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/arts/theatre/they-all-have-a-name-7022/|archive-date=August 28, 2011}}</ref> Evelyn Chew, the Vancouverite actor who took over the role for the 2012 tour, said that the play is intense because it unabashedly deals with human trafficking, and that builds in intensity to its climax.<ref name=Chronicle>{{Cite news |newspaper=[[The Chronicle Herald]]|location=Halifax|title=Trafficked kids given identity: She Has a Name tells the story of child prostitute|author=Elissa Barnard|date=June 27, 2012|url=http://thechronicleherald.ca/artslife/111339-trafficked-kids-given-identity|access-date=July 24, 2012}}</ref> Sienna Howell-Holden, who played Mama in the premiere and the 2012 tour, said that many audience members had not been previously familiar with 21st-century human trafficking.<ref name=CFUV/><ref name=Ignite>{{Cite news |title=Where is God at the Fringe?|publisher=[[CFEQ-FM]]|location=Winnipeg|date=July 19, 2012}}</ref> The character of Mama calls attention to the fact that poverty in the Third World fuels sex trafficking.<ref name=Lana/> Stephen Waldschmidt said he hoped that the play will educate Canadians about human trafficking and motivate them to act on what they learn, thereby turning them into anti-sexual slavery activists.<ref>For Waldschmidt's comment about education and motivation, see {{Cite news |title = Local director shines light on global crisis|author = Sara Wilson|journal = The Strathmore Standard|date = January 12, 2011|url=http://www.strathmorestandard.com/2011/01/12/local-director-shines-light-on-global-crisis|access-date=March 16, 2013}} * For Waldschmidt's comment about so-called "contemporary abolitionism," see {{Cite news |title=She Has a Name returns |author=Shannon LeClair |date=April 20, 2012 |newspaper=Strathmore Times |url=http://www.strathmoretimes.com/April-20-2012-Strathmore-Times/she-has-a-name-returns.html |access-date=July 30, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210004007/http://www.strathmoretimes.com/April-20-2012-Strathmore-Times/she-has-a-name-returns.html|archive-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref> He also said he hoped that the play will put a face on the million women and children sold into sexual slavery each year worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[CKOM]]|location=Saskatoon|author=Stephanie Froese|date=April 21, 2012|title=She Has a Name puts face to sexual slavery in Saskatoon|url=http://www.newstalk650.com/story/she-has-name-puts-face-sexual-slavery-saskatoon/53480|access-date=July 27, 2012|archive-date=December 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215022146/http://www.newstalk650.com/story/she-has-name-puts-face-sexual-slavery-saskatoon/53480|url-status=dead}}</ref> Because of the play's heavy themes, producers of the first performances issued an advisory for parents.<ref name=Strathmore>{{Cite news |title = Local director shines light on global crisis|author = Sara Wilson|journal = The Strathmore Standard|date = January 12, 2011|url=http://www.strathmorestandard.com/2011/01/12/local-director-shines-light-on-global-crisis|access-date=March 16, 2013}}</ref> Waldschmidt also stressed the amount of action in the play and said that, if the play was a film, it would receive a [[Motion Picture Association of America film rating system|PG-13 rating]] and would be billed a [[Thriller (genre)|thriller]].<ref>For Waldschmidt's comment about action, see {{Cite news |title=She Has a Name returns |author=Shannon LeClair |date=April 20, 2012 |newspaper=Strathmore Times |url=http://www.strathmoretimes.com/April-20-2012-Strathmore-Times/she-has-a-name-returns.html |access-date=July 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210004007/http://www.strathmoretimes.com/April-20-2012-Strathmore-Times/she-has-a-name-returns.html |archive-date=December 10, 2013 }} * For Waldschmidt's comment about a theoretical film rating, see {{Cite news|title = Local director shines light on global crisis|author = Sara Wilson|journal = The Strathmore Standard|date = January 12, 2011|url = http://www.strathmorestandard.com/2011/01/12/local-director-shines-light-on-global-crisis|access-date = March 16, 2013}} * For Waldschmidt's comment about genre, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Fast Forward Weekly]]|location=Calgary|date=February 17, 2011|author=Krista Sylvester|access-date=July 21, 2012|title=They all have a name|url=http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/arts/theatre/they-all-have-a-name-7022/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828173601/http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/arts/theatre/they-all-have-a-name-7022/|archive-date=August 28, 2011}}</ref> He also said it was difficult to stage a play that is inherently sexual and extremely violent in nature without making it feel pornographic.<ref name=Gauntlet/> Waldschmidt said that he wanted to stage ''She Has a Name'' partially to show how horrible human trafficking is and partially because the play is so theatrically gripping.<ref name=Advocate/>
The ''Country Sunrise News'' stated that the drama has a fast pace.<ref name=Sunrise/> Mallory Clarkson of the London Community News reported that, while ''She Has a Name'' is an emotional play, there are lighter moments where audience members can laugh.<ref name=Community>{{Cite news|newspaper=London Community News|title=Sex trafficking highlighted in She Has a Name, playing July 12–13 at the Aeolian|author=Mallory Clarkson|date=July 11, 2012|url=http://www.londoncommunitynews.com/2012/07/sex-trafficking-highlighted-in-she-has-a-name-playing-july-12-13-at-the-aeolian/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121208192515/http://www.londoncommunitynews.com/2012/07/sex-trafficking-highlighted-in-she-has-a-name-playing-july-12-13-at-the-aeolian/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 8, 2012|access-date=July 26, 2012}}</ref> Similarly, Lana Michelin of the ''Red Deer Advocate'' asserted that the play's sporadic humorous points maintain the audience's engagement with the story so they do not become numb to the play's emotional pulls.<ref name=Advocate/> Kooman stated that he tried to write the play in a way that would shock audiences without disturbing them to the point that they would not recommend it to friends.<ref name=Playwright/>
Marlo Campbell, a writer for ''[[Uptown (newspaper)|Uptown]]'', said that the play critiques masculine [[egotism]] and Western heroism through the character of Jason.<ref name=Uptown>{{Cite news |newspaper=[[Uptown (newspaper)|Uptown]]|location=Winnipeg|date=July 21, 2012|title=Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival 2012 reviews|url=http://www.uptownmag.com/arts/features/WINNIPEG-FRINGE-THEATRE-FESTIVAL-REVIEWS-163282806.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722194528/http://www.uptownmag.com/arts/features/WINNIPEG-FRINGE-THEATRE-FESTIVAL-REVIEWS-163282806.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=July 22, 2012|access-date=July 28, 2012}}</ref> Lana Michelin of the ''Red Deer Advocate'' disagreed, stating that Jason never lapses into self-importance.<ref name=Lana/> Aaron Krogman, who portrayed Jason and the pimp in the play's premiere, said, "there is a thin line between Jason and the pimp ... both characters are struggling with power and how they use it."<ref name=Standard/> Waldschmidt stated that the doubling of this role is intended to remind audiences that there are Canadians who are perpetrators of human trafficking and that it "is not just somebody else's problem over there ... but that it's us, and it's in our country and in our backyard and in our suburbs".<ref>For Waldschmidt's comment about Canadian perpetrators of human trafficking, see {{Cite news|newspaper=The Calgary Journal |title=Human trafficking portrayed through local theatre project: World premiere of 'She Has A Name' in Calgary on Feb. 23 |author=James Wilt |date=February 4, 2011 |url=http://www.calgaryjournalonline.ca/september-print-issue/arts-a-entertainment/1719-human-trafficking-portrayed-through-local-theatre-project |access-date=August 14, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213022928/http://www.calgaryjournalonline.ca/september-print-issue/arts-a-entertainment/1719-human-trafficking-portrayed-through-local-theatre-project |archive-date=December 13, 2014 }} * For the quotation, see {{Cite news|publisher=[[CFUV-FM]] |location=Victoria |title=She Has a Name |url=http://cfuvfringefestival.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/she-has-a-name/ |access-date=August 24, 2012 }}</ref> Jason has in this way been considered an everyman.<ref name=Plank>{{Cite magazine |magazine=Plank Magazine|location=Vancouver|author=Lisa Barrett|title=She Has A Name|date=September 8, 2012 |url=http://plankmagazine.com/review/she-has-name|access-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref> Chris Quandt, who portrayed Jason at the United States premiere, said that he and his fellow cast members greatly appreciated the fact that Kooman incorporated into the play the facts that taking down one brothel often leaves space for another brothel to be established soon afterwards, and that child sex tourism exists because there is a demand for it.<ref name=KXJZ/>
One Canadian critic said that the play's Bangkok setting allows Canadians to easily dissociate from the issue.<ref name=Mennonite/> Liz Nicholls of the ''Edmonton Journal'' wrote that the pimp character "represents the ruthless spirit of pure human greed."<ref name=Nicholls/> Stephen Pederson of ''[[The Chronicle Herald]]'' called the play a combination of idealism, realism, and lyricism.<ref name=Preachy>{{Cite news |newspaper=[[The Chronicle Herald]]|location=Halifax|author=Stephen Pedersen|title=Preachy tone blunts power of She Has a Name|date=July 5, 2012|url=http://thechronicleherald.ca/artslife/113898-preachy-tone-blunts-power-of-she-has-a-name|access-date=August 1, 2012}}</ref> Dustin Wiebe of the ''Mennonite Brethren Herald'' wrote that the play shows "the darker side of man's desire for control" by presenting Number 18 as having been stripped of her humanity.<ref name=Mennonite>{{Cite news |newspaper=Mennonite Brethren Herald|author=Dustin Wiebe|title=A unsettling look into human trafficking: She Has a Name|url=http://www.mbconf.ca/home/products_and_services/resources/publications/mb_herald/september_2012/crosscurrents/current_play/|access-date=September 20, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927055708/http://www.mbconf.ca/home/products_and_services/resources/publications/mb_herald/september_2012/crosscurrents/current_play/|archive-date=September 27, 2012}}</ref> The disaster that concludes the play is [[Foreshadowing|foreshadowed]] throughout.<ref name=CBC>{{cite news|publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=July 21, 2012|author=Anna Lazowski|title=She Has a Name |url=http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/scene/fringe/2012/07/she-has-a-name.html|access-date=July 28, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723124054/http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/scene/fringe/2012/07/she-has-a-name.html|archive-date=July 23, 2012}}</ref> The play both starts and ends with a depiction of the reality of contemporary slavery.<ref name=Winnipeg>{{Cite news |newspaper=[[Winnipeg Free Press]]|author=Kevin Prokosh|title=She Has a Name|date=July 17, 2012|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/fringe/reviews/She-Has-a-Name-162130445.html?viewAllComments=y|access-date=July 28, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803014243/http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/fringe/reviews/She-Has-a-Name-162130445.html?viewAllComments=y|archive-date=August 3, 2012}}</ref>
==Critical reception== {{Album ratings | rev1 = ''[[Calgary Herald]]'' | rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name=Review>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[Calgary Herald]]|title=Fringe Review: She Has a Name|date=August 4, 2012|author=Stephen Hunt|url=http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2012/08/04/fringe-review-she-has-a-name/|access-date=August 6, 2012|archive-date=October 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030215948/http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2012/08/04/fringe-review-she-has-a-name/|url-status=dead}}</ref> | rev2 = ''[[Calgary Sun]]'' | rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name=Sun>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[Calgary Sun]]|title=Calgary's She Has a Name a 'heart-wrenching' hit|author=Louis Hobson|date=February 24, 2011|url=http://www.calgarysun.com/entertainment/columnists/louis_hobson/2011/02/24/17398956.html|access-date=July 22, 2012|archive-date=June 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627181646/http://www.calgarysun.com/entertainment/columnists/louis_hobson/2011/02/24/17398956.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> | rev3 = [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] | rev3Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name=CBC/> | rev4 = ''The Charlebois Post'' | rev4Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name=Post>{{Cite news |title=Review: She Has a Name (Fringe)|author=Estelle Rosen|date=June 16, 2012|newspaper=The Charlebois Post|url=http://www.charpo-montreal.com/2012/06/review-she-has-name-fringe.html|access-date=July 30, 2012}}</ref> | rev5 = [[CFEQ-FM]] | rev5Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{Cite news |title=Fringe Festival 2012 Reviews|author=Kyle Rudge|publisher=[[CFEQ-FM]]|location=Winnipeg|url=http://www.ignite107.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=64&Itemid=307|access-date=February 18, 2013}}</ref> | rev6 = ''The Folsom Telegraph'' | rev6Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name=Folsom>{{Cite news |newspaper=The Folsom Telegraph|author=Gerry Camp|date=May 6, 2014|title=Play casts light on shadows of human trafficking|url=http://www.folsomtelegraph.com/article/play-casts-light-shadows-human-trafficking|access-date=December 13, 2014}}</ref> | rev7 = ''[[Times Colonist]]'' | rev7Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name=Colonist>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[Times Colonist]]|location=Victoria|author=Adrian Chamberlain|date=August 26, 2012|title=Fringe review: She Has a Name inspired by true story|url=http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Fringe+review+Name+inspired+true+story/7145452/story.html|access-date=September 11, 2012}}{{Dead link|date=January 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> | rev8 = ''[[Uptown (newspaper)|Uptown]]'' | rev8Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref name=Uptown/> | rev9 = ''[[Winnipeg Free Press]]'' | rev9Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref name=Winnipeg/> }} Critical response to ''She Has a Name'' began with initial readings of the play at the 2009 Scripts At Work workshop, where the script was given the Scripts At Work/[[Alberta Playwrights Network]] Award.<ref name=Express>{{Cite news |title=Local author unveils adventurous and original tale|author=Mark Weber|newspaper=Red Deer Express|date=December 9, 2009|page=14}}</ref> The play has since become very successful and was endorsed by Canadian activists including MP Joy Smith, Ratanak International's Brian McConaghy, and [[International Justice Mission|IJM]] Canada's [[Jamie McIntosh]].<ref>For the subsequent success of the play, see {{Cite news|newspaper=Red Deer Express|author=Mark Weber|title=Acclaimed local playwright wraps successful tour|date=September 26, 2012|url=http://www.reddeerexpress.com/news/Acclaimed_local_playwright_wraps_successful_tour_171342971.html|access-date=September 30, 2012|archive-date=November 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117152927/http://www.reddeerexpress.com/news/Acclaimed_local_playwright_wraps_successful_tour_171342971.html|url-status=dead}} * For the Canadian anti-sex work activists who endorsed the play, see {{Cite news|newspaper=Red Deer Express|author=Mark Weber|date=June 20, 2012|title=RDC alumnus receives provincial award of excellence|url=http://www.reddeerexpress.com/news/RDC_alumnus_receives_provincial_award_of_excellence__159734475.html|access-date=March 16, 2013|archive-date=January 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104212940/http://www.reddeerexpress.com/news/RDC_alumnus_receives_provincial_award_of_excellence__159734475.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Lara Quarterman, director of the Calgary chapter of [[ACT Alberta]], said she was concerned that ''She Has a Name'' suggests that human trafficking is limited to the sex trafficking of women and children in Thailand, but there is sexual-slavery-related human trafficking in Canada, and there is also human trafficking for the purposes of [[unfree labour]].<ref name=Times/> The chorus of dead human-trafficking victims has generally received negative reviews; one critic called it "the play's least successful device".<ref name=Nicholls/> Adrian Chamberlain of the Victoria ''[[Times Colonist]]'' criticised some of the script, charging that there were "implausible plot twists" and other "fundamental flaws", but concluded that it was well-intentioned and ambitious and "has its heart in the right place."<ref name=Colonist/>
The play's premiere and initial run were mostly critically acclaimed. The religious community's reviews of the initial run were also positive.<ref name=Huntley/> After the first performances in 2011, Louis Hobson of the ''[[Calgary Sun]]'' said the character of Marta was an unrealistic caricature and didn't "ring true" because of how she was written.<ref name=Sun/> The character underwent a series of rewrites to make her more well-rounded and kind before the 2012 cross-Canada tour.<ref name=Beat>{{Cite magazine|magazine=L.A. Beat|location=Lethbridge|title=Glenda Warkentin returns home to perform She Has A Name|author=Richard Amery|date=May 18, 2012|url=http://labeat.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2166:glenda-warkentin-returns-home-to-perform-she-has-a-name&catid=34:drama-latest&Itemid=58|access-date=July 27, 2012|archive-date=December 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214194538/http://labeat.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2166:glenda-warkentin-returns-home-to-perform-she-has-a-name&catid=34:drama-latest&Itemid=58|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the 2012 tour, the play was performed in several fringe theatre festivals, at which critics representing the ''[[Montreal Gazette]]'', the ''[[Winnipeg Free Press]]'', and [[CFEQ-FM]] said it stood out for its quality and moral content.<ref>For the ''Gazette'' review, see {{Cite news|title=Montreal Fringe Festival: No Fixed Abode, She Has a Name, The Harvester|newspaper=[[Montreal Gazette]]|author=Pat Donnelly|date=June 17, 2012|url=http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2012/06/17/montreal-fringe-festival-no-fixed-abode-she-has-a-name-the-harvester/|access-date=July 31, 2012|archive-date=November 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114040257/http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2012/06/17/montreal-fringe-festival-no-fixed-abode-she-has-a-name-the-harvester/|url-status=dead}} * For the ''Winnipeg Free Press'' review, see {{Cite news|newspaper=[[Winnipeg Free Press]]|author=Kevin Prokosh|title=She Has a Name|date=July 17, 2012|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/fringe/reviews/She-Has-a-Name-162130445.html?viewAllComments=y|access-date=July 28, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803014243/http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/fringe/reviews/She-Has-a-Name-162130445.html?viewAllComments=y|archive-date=August 3, 2012}} * For the CFEQ-FM review, see {{Cite news |title=Where is God at the Fringe?|publisher=[[CFEQ-FM]]|location=Winnipeg|date=July 19, 2012}}</ref> The writing was praised by one critic from the ''Victoria News'', who wrote that the play demonstrates that Kooman has a "gift for creating powerful, believable dialogue that can draw an audience in",<ref name=Victoria>{{Cite news|newspaper=Victoria News|title=Moving play, She Has a Name, comes with a message|date=February 16, 2012|url=http://www.vicnews.com/entertainment/139460168.html|access-date=July 26, 2012|archive-date=December 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211041737/http://www.vicnews.com/entertainment/139460168.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> but criticised by Chamberlain of the ''Times Colonist'', who attested to "melodramatic—and just plain bad—cop-show dialogue".<ref name=Colonist/> Liz Nicholls of the ''Edmonton Journal'' called the performances compelling.<ref name=Nicholls/> Karen Nelson, also of the ''Edmonton Journal'', called the play "sobering" in such a way that she was caused "to wonder what [she] could do about this global epidemic of abuse of children, women and the disenfranchised."<ref name=Nelson>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[Edmonton Journal]]|author=Karen Nelson|title=Play exposes global sex trade|date=September 28, 2012|url=https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/Saturday+letters+Ambrose+should+applauded+following+conscience/7317758/story.html|access-date=October 3, 2012|archive-date=November 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105175714/http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/Saturday+letters+Ambrose+should+applauded+following+conscience/7317758/story.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
During the 2012 tour, Kooman was awarded the Outstanding Alumnus Provincial Award Celebrating Excellence by the [[Alberta Association of Colleges & Technical Institutes]] and the [[Higher education in Alberta#Ministry of Enterprise and Advanced Education|Alberta Ministry of Enterprise]].<ref name=Alumnus>{{Cite news |newspaper=[[Red Deer Advocate]]|title=Kooman receives provincial alumnus award|date=June 16, 2012|page=C2}}</ref> At the St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival, ''She Has a Name'' was nominated for the 2012 [[Centaur Theatre]] Award for Best Anglophone Production.<ref>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[Montreal Gazette]]|author=Pat Donnelly|title=Fringe Festival 2012: And the winners of the Frankie awards are ...|date=June 24, 2012|url=https://montrealgazette.com/life/Fringe+Festival+2012+winners+Frankie+awards/6835256/story.html#ixzz1z3RT6VSQ|access-date=August 1, 2012|archive-date=August 24, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120824234021/http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Fringe+Festival+2012+winners+Frankie+awards/6835256/story.html#ixzz1z3RT6VSQ|url-status=dead}}</ref> At the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival, ''She Has a Name'' was selected for a "Pick of the Fringe" award.<ref name=Festival>{{cite web|title=Pick of the Fringe!|date=September 3, 2012|publisher=[[Intrepid Theatre#Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival|Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival]]|url=http://www.victoriafringe.com/blog/pick-of-the-fringe/|access-date=September 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121123060715/http://www.victoriafringe.com/blog/pick-of-the-fringe/|archive-date=November 23, 2012}}</ref> Later in the 2012 tour, Sienna Howell-Holden won a Spirit of the Fringe Award at the [[Vancouver Fringe Festival]] for her portrayal of Mama.<ref name=Michelin>{{Cite news |journal = [[Red Deer Advocate]]|author = Lara Michelin|title = Powerful play returning home|date=September 24, 2012|url = http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/local/Powerful_play_returning_home_171009181.html|access-date = January 16, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref>
When the play was staged in California in 2014, Gerry Camp of ''The Folsom Telegraph'' said that he had "never been more emotionally drained than ... after seeing the riveting opening night performance."<ref name=Folsom/> He praised all of the actors' performances, and particularly those of Quandt and Sunpanich.<ref name=Folsom/> "If you truly love theater, you must see this play," he concluded. "And I promise you, it is a play you will carry with you long after the lights have gone up."<ref name=Folsom/>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100828090304/http://www.burntthicket.com/she-has-a-name.html Burnt Thicket Theatre], original production troupe * [http://www.freefallstage.com/ FreeFall Stage], American production troupe
{{Prostitution in Canada}}
[[Category:2011 plays]] [[Category:Canadian plays]] [[Category:Literature about child prostitution]] [[Category:Crime drama plays]] [[Category:Fringe theatre]] [[Category:Human trafficking in Thailand]] [[Category:Plays about prostitution]] [[Category:Plays about slavery]] [[Category:Plays set in Bangkok]] [[Category:Political plays]] [[Category:Works about human trafficking]] [[Category:Works about prostitution in Thailand]]