Sharp and simple, hard-hitting but also heart-warming, Fair Trade is set to be an Edinburgh hit.
The number of nails this short production hits bang on the head is truly impressive. Shatterbox Theatre's Fair Trade recently performed at London's Rich Mix will soon commence a run at Edinburgh Fringe with the backing of executive producer Emma Thompson. It's caused a stir in the art world already citing the installation Journey as its stimulus and drawing support from jewellery designer Eric Van Peterson who has designed a bracelet exclusively for the show.
The play depicts the parallel journeys of fictional characters Elena and Samai as they are pushed from the frying pan into the fire and find themselves alone and desperate in a strange and unfamiliar city. Elena from a poverty stricken village in Albania and Samai escaping the horrors of war in Sudan, are lured by the promise of a better life in London. Punctuated with short artistic intervals, the play allows us to get to know the girls a little as they recall their different harrowing stories.
Young, impressionable Elena, like so many, is naïve about the cruel world that exists beyond her own village until she becomes a part of it, and by then it's too late. Preyed upon, and tricked by a friend she soon learns the value of a passport and what it means to be in someone's debt. Her story highlights the cruelty of women toward women in a trade that snatches away identity and dignity but not hope. Samai's journey takes her from a brutal situation to one of further inhumane cruelty. Imprisoned, she is at the mercy of her trafficker. It's going to be hard to forget Sarah Amankwah's haunting performance as Samai, every ounce of her is invested in her character's vulnerability and growing desperation after being deprived of contact with anyone other than her abusers.
At just under an hour it touches on flawed bureaucracy at immigration and the erosion of identity. We get to see an unsettling image of cold, hard traffickers, the glamorisation of the sex trade and a wake up call about the impact the Olympics will have.
It's not perfect by any measure. There isn't enough time to develop any of the characters' backgrounds effectively, there are unnecessary characters and a few scenes that have no lasting effect nor propell the action. Young dreamy girls who want to be Cinderella don't seem to fit into this production about women tricked and trapped and fairy godmothers certainly seem out of place.
But there are also some incredibly powerful scenes in Fair Trade: as Elena and Samai lie down on a grimy bed they are relentlessly set upon by a seemingly endless amount of men, who they tally up with exhausting speed on the walls of their room. The triumph of Fair Trade is the array of haunting images it leaves you with. From the clueless lad out on a stag night who becomes part of a world he knows shouldn't exist, to the brothel manager caught in a viscous cycle. If you're heading to Edinburgh, don't miss this.
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