From Kabosh Theatre Company comes Silent Trade – the harrowing reality of sex trafficking in Northern Ireland and the first of its kind to tackle the subject in local theatres.

The 72-minute performance manages to crack open the can of worms that is domestic servitude and leaves its audience attempting desperately to claw them back.

In the ‘leafy suburbs’ of Belfast, Precious, played brilliantly by Lizzy Akinbami, is a young Nigerian woman who is sold to an affluent family and kept hidden from the outside world. Her passport is taken away and she longs to pay off her visa so she can work and send money home to her family. When it is discovered by neighbours that Precious is being kept at the house, she is sold on to a pimp and plied with drink and drugs.

While audiences may be shocked by mentions of female mutilation or the insinuation that slavery is alive and well on what may as well be the Malone Road, these impactful moments are often overshadowed by local humour – which seems displaced when dismantling such a serious subject.

Perhaps humour is used as it would be in any bad situation in Northern Ireland, as a futile attempt to diffuse an otherwise horrific ordeal. Yet, when faced with statistics that the number of potential victims of modern slavery in Northern Ireland has risen 750% since 2012, it is troubling that humour appears to take hold of this ambitious production.

Nevertheless, we root for Precious and wish for her pimp to be punished. When she is targeted by him not to testify however, we are back to square one. Although she is technically ‘free’, she is still bound by her trauma. The performance draws to an end when Precious is asked by her fellow survivor Suzanne if they’ll ever be able to be normal again – her response of ‘we’ll have to wait and see’ reminds us that there is no resolve in this injustice – for Precious, or perhaps any of the 128 individuals who have been potential victims of modern slavery.

As stated by The Arts Council of Northern Ireland, this production starts the conversation and shines the light on what is a real-world problem that happens not too far from home – it would be illuminating to see others join in.

Silent Trade is showing at the Lyric Theatre between Wed 22—Sun 26 Feb 2023

Author: Anna Louise Crockard