She Has a Name

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 MP Joy Smith, Ratanak International's Brian McConaghy, and IJM Canada's Jamie McIntosh.

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.

[10] Knowing that many of the impoverished girls who are smuggled in this manner become enslaved in brothels as child prostitutes, Kooman used the incident in the backstory of the play.

As poetic and prophetic voices, these characters serve much the same purpose as a chorus in Greek tragedies, according to reviewer Lana Michelin of the Red Deer Advocate.

[4] 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

[30] The tour started on May 23 in Lethbridge and went on to the other Canadian cities of Saskatoon, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, London, Winnipeg, Calgary, Victoria, Vancouver, Kelowna, Edmonton, and Red Deer.

[49] 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.

[53] 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 in 2014 under the direction of Emma Eldridge, who was a 23-year-old college student at the time.

[56] 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.

[62] 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.

[65] 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.

"[5] 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.

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.

[68] 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.

[37] 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.

[37] 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.

[24] 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.

"[21] 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".

[68] 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.

[86] The play has since become very successful and was endorsed by Canadian activists including MP Joy Smith, Ratanak International's Brian McConaghy, and IJM Canada's Jamie McIntosh.

[28] The chorus of dead human-trafficking victims has generally received negative reviews; one critic called it "the play's least successful device".

[45] 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.

[88] 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.

[45] 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.

[95] 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.

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.
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 angels or ghosts, and are sometimes frightening and at other times consoling.
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 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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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."