What: She Has a Name
Where: Wood Hall, Victoria Conservatory of Music, 907 Pandora Ave.
When: Aug. 26, 27, Sept. 2
Rating: 3 stars (out of five)
Despite fundamental flaws, She Has a Name has its heart in the right place.
This 90-minute drama is inspired by a true human trafficking incident: the 2008 discovery of a storage locker in Thailand containing Burmese workers, half of them suffocated to death.
She Has a Name is the story of an American lawyer, Jason, who goes undercover to investigate human trafficking in Bangkok brothels. He meets a 15-year-old prostitute known only as 聯Number 18聰. The soul-crushing depravity and hopelessness of the situation eventually causes Jason to unhinge. He finds himself resorting to the base violence favoured by the bad guys.
Andrew Kooman聮s play aspires to moral complexity. This is admirable, since single-minded didacticism is the coffin nail in political theatre. Unfortunately, She Has a Name is plagued by melodramatic 聴 and just plain bad 聴 cop-show dialogue.
He: 聯Just cut the perverts聮 balls off and shove them down their throats.聰 She: 聯No聟 justice doesn聮t work that way.聰 Hmmm.
Kooman聮s decision to introduce a Greek chorus of mysterious hooded figures who waft around chattering about angels doesn聮t help. Neither do the implausible plot twists. That said, some of the main characters 聴 including Evelyn Chew as the prostitute and Carl Kennedy as Jason 聴 have their moments.
