2012 tour of She Has a Name
Fringe theatre tour by Burnt Thicket Theatre and Raise Their Voice | |
Location | Canada |
---|---|
No. of shows | Approximately 80 |
The 2012 tour of She Has a Name was a fringe theatre tour across Canada of Andrew Kooman's play She Has a Name. The play had its initial run in 2011. Both the 2011 and 2012 performances were co-produced by Burnt Thicket Theatre and Raise Their Voice and were directed by Stephen Waldschmidt. For the 2012 tour, the five-person cast was made up of Carl Kennedy, Evelyn Chew, Glenda Warkentin, Alysa van Haastert, and Sienna Howell-Holden. Despite the fact that She Has a Name is set in Southeast Asia, the producers deliberately cast mostly actors who were not of Asian descent in order to avoid giving the impression that human trafficking only happens in Asia.
Panel discussions were held after the Saturday matinées during the tour. The purpose of these talkback sessions was to raise awareness about the human trafficking that takes place in Canada and in other countries. A Better World (ABW) partnered with Raise Their Voice throughout the tour; while She Has a Name toured across Canada to raise awareness about human trafficking, ABW raised money to help women and children who had been trafficked in Thailand as part of the country's prostitution industry.
During the tour, Kooman received the Outstanding Alumnus Provincial Award Celebrating Excellence from the Alberta Association of Colleges & Technical Institutes and the Alberta Ministry of Enterprise. At the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival, She Has a Name was selected for a "Pick of the Fringe" award. Professional ratings of the performances ranged between 3 and 5 stars out of 5. In Halifax, the The Chronicle Herald's reviewer was bitingly critical of the play, writing that that it lacked irony, had a melodramatic and excessively moralizing tone, and was comparable to the morality plays of the Middle Ages. When She Has a Name was performed at fringe theatre festivals, the play was declared to stand out for its quality and moral content by critics representing The Gazette, the Winnipeg Free Press, and CFEQ-FM.
Background
She Has a Name is a Canadian play about human trafficking written by Andrew Kooman,[1] director of Raise Their Voice.[2] The play was inspired by the Ranong human-trafficking incident,[1] in which 121 people were trafficked from Burma into Thailand and left to die in a water tank.[3] The two main characters in the play are a Canadian lawyer named Jason and a young prostitute known as Number 18.[4] Jason has a beautiful wife named Ali[5] and a boss named Marta. Number 18 has an unnamed pimp who has an assistant referred to as Mama.[6]
The play was first performed at the EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts in Calgary in February 2011.[4] Four days after the initial performances in Calgary, Burnt Thicket Theatre moved the play to the Scott Block Theatre in Red Deer, producing the play there until March 12.[7] All these performances in Calgary and Red Deer were sold out.[8] Because all of the early 2011 performances of the play were sold out, a second run was planned.[9] All five members of Raise Their Voice had previous connections with A Better World (ABW), an organization based in Lacombe, Alberta, and the two organizations began planning to work together.[3] A tour was initially planned for that fall.[10]
Plans for a cross-Canada tour of the play were realised in May of the following year,[11] when She Has a Name began a fringe theatre tour.[12] As with the 2011 performances, the 2012 tour was directed by Stephen Waldschmidt[13] and co-produced by Burnt Thicket Theatre and Raise Their Voice.[11] The 2012 tour of She Has a Name lasted twenty weeks,[14] encompassing approximately 80 performances in total.[15] Carl Kennedy portrayed Jason, Evelyn Chew portrayed Number 18, Glenda Warkentin portrayed Marta, Alysa van Haastert portrayed Ali, and Sienna Howell-Holden portrayed Mama.[16] Morris Ertman, Rosebud Theatre's artistic director, recommended Kennedy to Kooman after Ertman saw Kennedy perform in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot in Vancouver.[17] Kennedy auditioned for the dual role of Jason and the pimp over Skype.[18]
Despite the fact that She Has a Name is set in Southeast Asia, the producers deliberately cast mostly actors who were not of Asian descent in order to avoid giving the impression that human trafficking only happens in Asia. While the issues dealt with in She Has a Name are inherently sexual and the play depicts scenes of sexuality, the producers of the tour avoided presenting actual nudity in the production.[1] Nonetheless, a nudity warning was included in the program and children under the age of 14 were not admitted.[19] The play deals with mature themes[1] and includes profanity,[20] of which audiences were warned.[21]
To facilitate the tour, nearly $100,000 was raised from various private donors, business sponsors, and church groups.[22] A fundraiser was held at Foothills Alliance Church in Calgary on May 5, featuring a scene from She Has a Name performed by Kennedy and Chew.[18] Aaron Krogman, the actor who portrayed Jason in the premiere of She Has a Name, also performed several songs.[23] A week later, on May 12, another tour fundraiser was hosted at Hope Community Covenant Church in Strathmore. For this fundraiser, Randall Wiebe gave a pay-what-you-want performance of Thomas: Confessions of a Doubter, a 55-minute, one-man Passion play that he wrote himself and had performed more than 350 times.[24]
Performances
The tour of She Has a Name started on May 23 in Lethbridge and went on to Saskatoon, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax,[11] London,[25] Winnipeg,[19] Calgary,[26] Victoria,[27] Vancouver,[28] Kelowna,[29] Edmonton,[16] and Red Deer.[13] London was added to the list partway through the tour because of popular demand.[25] There was a pay-what-you-can preview on May 22 at the Sterndale Bennett Theatre in Lethbridge.[30] In Saskatoon, the play ran at Remai Arts Centre's BackStage Stage.[31] In Montreal, the play was presented at the Montreal Arts Interculturels as part of the St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival.[13] In Halifax, the play was staged at Neptune Theatre.[32] The London performances were hosted by Men Against Sexual Trafficking and the London Anti-Human Trafficking Committee.[14] The Aeolian Hall was the location for these performances.[25] In Winnipeg, the play was performed at Manitoba Theatre for Young People's Shaw Performing Arts Centre.[33] The Winnipeg performances of She Has a Name were part of the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival.[34] The performances in Calgary took place at the Lantern Church Sanctuary.[35] These performances were part of the Calgary Fringe Festival,[11] for which She Has a Name was selected to be performed by lottery.[36]
A group of people led by Sarahanne Tolsma worked to bring the play to Victoria in order to increase awareness about human trafficking. This group sought to raise $10,000 to enter the play in the Victoria Fringe Festival.[37] She Has a Name was successfully entered into the Victoria Fringe Festival and the performances were located at the Victoria Conservatory of Music.[38] The play was performed at the Firehall Arts Centre as part of the Vancouver Fringe Festival in September.[39] In Kelowna, the Rotary Centre for the Arts' Mary Irwin Theatre hosted the play.[40] The play was performed at Catalyst Theatre in Edmonton.[41] The final performances of the tour were conducted at the Scott Block Theatre in Red Dear from October 2 to 6.[42] The first of these performances in Red Deer was sold out and received a standing ovation.[43]
Talkback panels and fundraising
Panel discussions were held after the Saturday matinées during the tour.[44] These discussions were open to anyone who wanted to attend, and not just the play's audience.[45] The discussions were chaired by several people including Kooman.[44] The purpose of these talkback sessions was to raise awareness about the human trafficking that takes place in Canada and in other countries.[45] ACT Alberta's community engagement coordinator was on the panels in Lethbridge[46] and Calgary.[47] On the Saskatoon panel was the president of NASHI.[48] Joy Smith appeared on the panels in Ottawa[44] and Winnipeg, where she serves as Member of Parliament.[17] In Halifax, the panel included the director of the Transition House Association of Nova Scotia and an Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer.[49] The founder of Ratanak International was on the panel in Winnipeg.[50] Winnipeg's Eastview Community Church later hosted another discussion with three human trafficking experts, including the director of Dignity House.[51] A Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation representative named Norma was on the panels in Calgary,[52] Edmonton,[41] and Red Deer.[53] Yvon Dandurand of the University of the Fraser Valley and Melissa Hyland of the Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons both appeared on the Victoria panel at the Hotel Grand Pacific.[54] While the Vancouver performances took place at the Firehall Arts Centre, the corresponding panel discussions were held across the intersection at St. James Anglican Church. Panelists included Trisha Baptie, Jassy Bindra, Brian McConaghy, Naomi Krueger of Deborah's Gate, and the Director of Development and Mobilization of International Justice Mission Canada.[55] The Kelowna panel included Glendene Grant, mother of Jessie Foster.[15] The Edmonton panel included RCMP officer Cindy Kovalak.[41] The final talkback panel in Red Deer was attended by about 70 people.[56]
ABW partnered with Raise Their Voice throughout the tour of She Has a Name; while the play toured across Canada to raise awareness about human trafficking, ABW raised money to help women and children who had been trafficked in Thailand as part of the country's prostitution industry.[3] ABW raised this money by solicitation through the program passed out at each performance. The program recommended ABW to audiences as a good organization to support and listed the websites of several other nonprofit organizations.[22] The money that ABW raised in this way went to Home of New Beginnings, a safe house established in Bangkok in 2006, where former human trafficking victims receive life skills-based education.[3]
Reception
Awards
During the tour, Kooman received the Outstanding Alumnus Provincial Award Celebrating Excellence from the Alberta Association of Colleges & Technical Institutes and the Alberta Ministry of Enterprise.[57] At the St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival, She Has a Name was nominated for the 2012 Centaur Theatre Award for Best Anglophone Production.[58] Japan's Osara Soup won the award with the almost wordless clown show My Exploding Family, which Pat Donnelly of The Gazette found surprising, and She Has a Name was instead given an honourable mention.[59] At the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival, She Has a Name was selected for a "Pick of the Fringe" award.[27] Later in the 2012 tour, Howell-Holden won a Spirit of the Fringe Award at the Vancouver Fringe Festival for her portrayal of Mama.[45]
Reviews
Audiences reacted with deep emotion as the play toured.[14] Standing ovations were common.[60][61] Reviews from theatre critics were generally positive.[12][20][62][19][63][64][26][55][16][65] Laureen Guenther of Maranatha News wrote that the 2012 performances were more tender and brutal than those in the initial run.[20] The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation praised the acting in the play,[62] as did the Winnipeg Free Press,[19] The Charlebois Post,[63] The Gazette,[64] the Calgary Herald,[26] Plank Magazine,[55] the Edmonton Journal,[16] and the St. Albert Gazette.[65] The Winnipeg Free Press was particularly approving of Carl Kennedy's performance.[19] Evelyn Chew's performance was hailed by The Vancouver Sun as heartbreaking.[66] The St. Albert Gazette called her portrayal of Number 18 mesmerizing.[65] The Calgary Herald wrote positively of Waldschmidt's directing.[26] The special effects were praised by the Edmonton Journal.[67]
When Kooman's play was performed in the Montreal Fringe Festival alongside such other plays as God is a Scottish Drag Queen[68] and Fu—ing Stephen Harper: How I Sexually Assaulted the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada and Saved Democracy,[69] The Gazette called She Has a Name a "well-crafted, issue-oriented play" that stood in contrast to the festival's "standup comedy, burlesque and navel-gazing solo shows".[9] The Gazette had previously predicted that She Has a Name would be the best performance in the festival.[69] Ultimately, however, The Gazette declared Kooman's play the second-best.[64] In Halifax, the The Chronicle Herald's reviewer was bitingly critical of the play, writing that that it lacked irony, had a melodramatic and excessively moralizing tone, and was comparable to the morality plays of the Middle Ages.[70]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Calgary Herald | [26] |
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | [62] |
The Charlebois Post | [63] |
Times Colonist | [38] |
Uptown | [33] |
Winnipeg Free Press | [19] |
The Winnipeg Free Press considered She Has a Name "a cut above the quality of most fringe offerings".[19] CFEQ-FM praised the play for being one of the few plays at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival that had moral content or that challenged its viewers to make a difference on some issue.[17] Also in Winnipeg, Uptown's Marlo Campbell declared that the play caused her to cry until her face became puffy.[33] The play's return to Calgary was met with rave reviews.[71] At the Calgary Fringe Festival, She Has a Name was again singled out as more poignant and weighty than the other plays, this time by the Calgary Herald.[26] The festival organizers announced that attendance was up by 23% from the previous year; the Calgary Herald attributed the increase to the popularity of She Has a Name and the other two plays that were performed with it at the Lantern Church Sanctuary: Loon and The Last Man on Earth.[72] Amanda McCuaig of Art Threat recorded that She Has a Name was received with standing ovations and speechless audiences at the Vancouver Fringe Festival.[61]
References
- ^ a b c d Pauline Anunciacion (February 16, 2012). "She Has a Name and a story, too: Theatre performance tours Canada to raise awareness about human trafficking in Southeast Asia". Gauntlet. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
- ^ Frank Rackow (February 16, 2012). "She Has A Name". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
- ^ a b c d Susan Zielinski (September 21, 2012). "Groups helping sex trade victims". Red Deer Advocate.
- ^ a b Sara Wilson (January 12, 2011). "Local director shines light on global crisis". The Strathmore Standard.
- ^ "PGC's Q&A with Andrew Kooman - Fringe Edition". Playwrights Guild of Canada. September 10, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
- ^ Louis Hobson (February 24, 2011). "Calgary's She Has a Name a 'heart-wrenching' hit". Calgary Sun. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
- ^ "Human Trafficking - Joy's HT Updates - February 2011 Update". Joy Smith. 2011. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
- ^ "Locally Grown Play She Has a Name". Country Sunrise News. 15 (3). April 2012.
- ^ a b Pat Donnelly (June 15, 2012). "Fringe 2012: Alberta group's play explores human trafficking". The Gazette.
- ^ Kathleen Renne (February 27, 2011). "February 27, 2011". CKUA Radio Network. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
- ^ a b c d "She Has a Name to tour Canada". Calgary Herald. April 6, 2012.
- ^ a b Bob Clark (August 2, 2012). "Fringe Picks: Eight shows that caught our attention". Calgary Herald.
{{cite journal}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthor=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ a b c "Event: She Has a Name (Fringe)". The Charlebois Post. June 12, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
- ^ a b c Mallory Clarkson (July 11, 2012). "Sex trafficking highlighted in She Has a Name, playing July 12–13 at the Aeolian". London Community News. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
- ^ a b "'She Has A Name' Production". New Life Church. September 10, 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
- ^ a b c d Liz Nicholls (September 26, 2012). "Theatre review: Performances outshine writing in vivid activist play". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
- ^ a b c "Where is God at the Fringe?". CFEQ-FM. July 19, 2012.
- ^ a b Louis Hobson (May 4, 2012). "Actor makes Name in trafficking play". Calgary Sun. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g Kevin Prokosh (July 17, 2012). "She Has a Name". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
- ^ a b c Laureen F. Guenther (August 22, 2012). "She Has a Name Cross-Canada Tour". Maranatha News. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
- ^ "Fringe Series - She Has a Name". Holy Trinity Anglican Church. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
- ^ a b Lana Michelin (May 15, 2012). "Playwright tells story of human trafficking". Red Deer Advocate.
- ^ Bob Clark (May 4, 2012). "Hurrah for Handel's Ariodante". Calgary Herald.
- ^ Mario Toneguzzi (May 11, 2012). "Play on Doubting Thomas set for Strathmore". Calgary Herald.
- ^ a b c Joe Belanger (July 10, 2012). "Innocent victims at risk: Canadian play based on real-life human trafficking event". London Free Press. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f Stephen Hunt (August 4, 2012). "Fringe Review: She Has a Name". Calgary Herald. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
- ^ a b "Pick of the Fringe!". Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival. September 3, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
- ^ "She Has a Name". Vancouverplays.com. 98. August 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
- ^ "Award-winning play coming to Kelowna". Kelowna Capital News. September 17, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
- ^ Al Beeber (May 11, 2012). "She has a name". Lethbridge Herald.
- ^ "She has a Name: Inspired by a 2008 event, a new compelling play now running in Saskatoon gives a face to human trafficking". CFSK-DT. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
- ^ Elissa Barnard (June 21, 2012). "Staging glorious summer in N.S." The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
- ^ a b c "Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival 2012 reviews". Uptown. July 21, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
- ^ Richard Amery (May 18, 2012). "Glenda Warkentin returns home to perform She Has A Name". L.A. Beat. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
- ^ Bruce Weir (August 2, 2012). "Five Down: A Staple of the Theatrical Calendar". Swerve Calgary.
- ^ Louis Hobson (July 29, 2012). "Winning the lottery of local theatrics at Fringe Fest: Home-grown shows nab 13 of 34 coveted spots in Fringe Fest". Calgary Sun. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
- ^ "Moving play, She Has a Name, comes with a message". Victoria News. February 16, 2012. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
- ^ a b Adrian Chamberlain (August 26, 2012). "Fringe review: She Has a Name inspired by true story". Times Colonist. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
- ^ "TC actors in VIFF". Tri-City News. August 28, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
- ^ "Sex trafficking play hits close to home". The Morning Star. September 19, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
- ^ a b c Anna Borowiecki (September 22, 2012). "Play about human trafficking provides chilling insights". St. Albert Gazette. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
- ^ "Support Magdalene House". Red Deer Express. August 15, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
- ^ Lana Michelin (October 4, 2012). "She Has A Name returns with more emotional punch". Red Deer Advocate.
- ^ a b c Shannon LeClair (April 20, 2012). "She Has A Name returns". Strathmore Times. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
- ^ a b c Lara Michelin (September 24, 2012). "Powerful play returning home". Red Deer Advocate.
- ^ Lacey Vornbrock (May 23, 2012). "Powerful play hits city stage". Lethbridge Herald.
- ^ Christina Kuntz (August 3, 2012). "Talkback panel tackles human trafficking". Calgary Herald. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
- ^ Curtis Anderson (June 2, 2012). "Arts & Entertainment". Shaw TV Saskatoon.
- ^ "Neptune offers special show of She Has a Name". The Chronicle Herald. June 7, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
- ^ "Burnt Thicket Theatre presents She Has A Name by Andrew Kooman". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
- ^ Dustin Wiebe. "A unsettling look into human trafficking: She Has a Name". Mennonite Brethren Herald. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
- ^ "Calgary Fringe Festival Performs "She Has a Name"". Alberta Community Crime Prevention Association. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
- ^ Mark Weber (September 26, 2012). "Acclaimed local playwright wraps successful tour". Red Deer Express. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
- ^ "Burnt Thicket Theatre presents She Has A Name by Andrew Kooman". HarbourLiving.ca. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
- ^ a b c Lisa Barrett (September 8, 2012). "She Has A Name". Plank Magazine. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
- ^ Paul Cowley (October 9, 2012). "'Power of hope' helps save child from sexual exploitation". Red Deer Advocate.
- ^ "Kooman receives provincial alumnus award". Red Deer Advocate. June 16, 2012.
- ^ "The St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival Announces the Nominations For The 2012 Frankie Awards". St-Ambroise Montrael Fringe Festival. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
- ^ Pat Donnelly (June 25, 2012). "Fringe Festival 2012: And the winners of the Frankie awards are ..." The Gazette. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
- ^ Mark Weber (June 20, 2012). "RDC alumnus receives provincial award of excellence". Red Deer Express.
- ^ a b Amanda McCuaig (September 11, 2012). "She Has a Name leaves you breathless: Play on human trafficking touches without playing the guilt card". Art Threat. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
- ^ a b c Anna Lazowski (July 21, 2012). "She Has a Name". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
- ^ a b c Estelle Rosen (June 16, 2012). "Review: She Has a Name (Fringe)". The Charlebois Post. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
- ^ a b c Pat Donnelly (June 22, 2012). "Hudson Village Theatre goes back to its roots: Heather Markgraf-Lowe returns to get things back on track after cost-cutting". The Gazette. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
- ^ a b c Anna Borowiecki (September 27, 2012). "Humanity's ugliness exposed in She Has A Name: Show about sex trade is gut-wrenching, disturbing". St. Albert Gazette. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
- ^ Erika Thorkelson (September 14, 2012). "Vancouver Fringe Festival: Capsule reviews". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
- ^ Karen Nelson (September 28, 2012). "Play exposes global sex trade". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
- ^ Geordon Omand (June 16, 2012). "A Taste of Fringe: Performers scramble to impress at the Out-of-Towner Fringe-for-all". The Link. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
- ^ a b Pat Donnelly (June 16, 2012). "Fringe 2012: Steven Harper's Fringe nemesis and top-10-show predictions". The Gazette.
- ^ Stephen Pedersen (July 5, 2012). "Preachy tone blunts power of She Has a Name". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
- ^ Meghan Potkins (August 5, 2012). "Festival fever takes over city with several events underway". Calgary Herald.
- ^ Stephen Hunt (August 9, 2012). "Six shows to see on Fringe's final weekend". Calgary Herald. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
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