page_title: She Has a Name
section_title: Themes
hierarchical_section_title: She Has a Name / Themes
caption_attribution_description: English: Jason and Ali talk over Skype in the Canadian play She Has a Name
context_page_description: 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 raised money to help women and children who had been trafficked in Thailand as part of the country's prostitution industry. The first performances of She Has a Name in the United States took place in 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.
context_section_description: Kooman made justice the focus of She Has a Name; the social issues that interest him include poverty, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the effects of war. The central issues in She Has a Name are gender-based. The general topic of the play is human trafficking—specifically the trafficking of children into sexual slavery. 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." 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 branded onto the victim's body. 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. 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. 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. According to Liz Nicholls of the Edmonton Journal, Number 18 is a nuanced character, better-developed than the stock damsel in distress.
  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. He hoped that audiences would avoid getting stuck in the statistics of human trafficking and would connect with a personal story. 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?" 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.
  Much of the play is concerned with demonstrating the immensity of the difficulties that face Jason in trying to rescue Number 18. 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. 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. 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. 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.  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."
  Denise Wong, the Calgarian actor who portrayed Number 18 in the premiere, said that the play was about the human condition. 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. 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. The character of Mama calls attention to the fact that poverty in the Third World fuels sex trafficking. Stephen Waldschmidt said he hoped that the play will educate Ca
caption: 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.
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