Article by Jesscia Ratcliffe
e. jecsratcliffe@gmail.com
Emma Thompson presents Fair Trade
Shatterbox theatre company and Oscar winning actress Emma Thompson are collaborating to present the hard-hitting play Fair Trade. The play strives to bring real experiences to the stage in order to raise awareness and break the taboo’s that surround sex trafficking.
Fair Trade tells the remarkable stories of two very different female survivors of the British sex slave trade. Their journeys – from their separate home countries to London – are delivered in a powerfully honest and unsentimental way, through verbatim, choreography and music.
The play, written by Shatterbox Theatre Company founders Anna Holbek and Shelley Davenport was developed over an eight-month process of workshops, interviews and research. Shelley and Anna were introduced to Elena and Samai, the real-life accounts of which Fair Trade is based, through the Helen Bamber Foundation. The production debuted at The Pleasance Theatre in 2009 and is set to begin a month run at the Pleasance King Dome at the Edinburgh Festival this August. From there the production will tour nationwide.
Shatterbox Theatre Company have received the support of Emma Thompson who, in her role as executive producer for Shatterbox and chair of the Helen Bamber Foundation, is helping to raise awareness about human trafficking all over the world.
“I’m extremely proud to be involved in this production; it’s one of the best scripts I’ve seen in years. Sex trafficking is a hugely important subject, and I believe we need as much art as we can get to help people understand what’s going on out there.” – Academy Award Winning Actress Emma Thompson
