Theatre
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‘THESE GIRLS HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO’ Hitlist THE BEST THEATRE & DANCE*
✽✽ When Harry Met Sally Love it or hate it, the film has become something of a classic thanks to that scene with an over-excited Ms Ryan. Ex-soap actors Rupert Hill (Coronation Street) and Sarah Jayne Dunn (Hollyoaks) take up the eponymous roles in this theatre adaptation, with a jazz soundtrack courtesy of Ben and Jamie Cullum. Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Thu 17 Jun–Sat 19 Jun. ✽✽ Roadkill Cora Bissett directs this off-site performance to be shown in Glasgow before its outing at this year’s Fringe. See preview, left. Pick up from Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 15 Jun–Sat 19 Jun. ✽✽ Rose and Bones: Spirit and Stones Live music, visual art, film and performance are all on display here in this well- conceived piece based on an old folk tale about sibling rivalry. Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 11 & Sat 12 Jun. ✽✽ The Seagull Over a century after it was first performed in Glasgow, Chekhov’s ever-popular The Seagull gets a new outing from Strathclyde Theatre Group. Ramshorn Theatre, Glasgow, 14 Jun–19 Jun. ✽✽ Gender Divide Experimental youth performance collective Junction 25 showcase their new work. Tramway, Glasgow, Thu 24 Jun–Sat 26 Jun. ✽✽ Classic Cuts Season Grab your pie and pint and choose your play, as the Play, Pie and a Pint season comes up trumps again, this time with a treasure trove of adapted classics. Oran Mor, Glasgow, from Mon 12 Jun. ✽✽ Deborah Colker Stunning new work Cruel, courtesy of Colker’s exceptional dancers. Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Tue 22 Jun–Wed 23 Jun.
Home truths
The shocking realities of human trafficking come under the spotlight in a new off-site piece of work. Anna Millar talks to its director, Cora Bissett
I t’s an unusually hot Glasgow afternoon and actress-cum-director Cora Bissett is holed up in a small, dark tenement flat in the southside of Glasgow. She’s here to rehearse Roadkill, an intensely intimate examination of human trafficking. Later this month, 12 unwitting audience members will arrive at the Tron Theatre, only to be transported to this unknown location, as the drama unfolds. ‘By taking the audience out of the comfort of the theatre, you really get the sense that this horrific situation is happening here and now,’ explains Bissett.
Inspired by the experiences of young women trafficked to Scotland, the story revolves around a young teenager in Benin City, who, struggling to support her family, makes the journey to a Glasgow tenement to meet ‘aunty’ Martha, who has arranged a ‘job’ and flight for her. Combining video, music and performance, Bissett hopes to scratch far beneath the surface and take the story beyond sensationalist headlines. ‘I really want the audience to feel like they are on the journey with her. You can’t know the extent of the problem because it’s housed in flats just like these, making the girls untraceable.
‘It’s not screaming out like a brothel, with a red light outside, it could be happening on anybody’s street, on your street, and you wouldn’t know.’ On the morning of our interview, a quick news search suggests that as many as ten organised crime gangs are involved in human trafficking in Scotland alone. Recent reports from the Scottish Government state that up to one quarter of child asylum seekers found unaccompanied in Glasgow may have been the
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victims of trafficking. Those who are found are often too scared to testify. Bissett – who many will remember for her recent extraordinary performance in David Greig’s 2009 hit Midsummer – is keen to avoid preaching, preferring rather to allow the audience to respond to the girl on their own terms.
‘The double shock here is that it is often other women who lure these girls over. You hear a lot about Eastern European gangs – but often it is older woman taking advantage of younger girls, giving them hope of a better future. You can’t even imagine how psychologically damaging that is. It becomes like a domestic abuse relationship. These girls have no idea what they are going to.’ Presented by Ankur Productions in association with Pachamama Productions and Tron Theatre, with support from the Scottish Refugee Council, the project has been a long time in the making, and Bissett is delighted by the response. With tickets now sold out for its upcoming Tron run, audiences will get a chance to see it in August at the Fringe, and later in the year when it returns for a second run at the Tron. ‘My job is to share stories with people, I’m not a politician or a human rights worker,’ says Bissett. ‘But there’s a demand in our society. It’s about fathers, sons, uncles and boyfriends having sex with people against their will and it’s happening here.
‘We have to ask why we are letting this happen, and
I hope people go away thinking about that.’
Roadkill, pick up from the Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 15 Jun–Sat 19 Jun.