Powerful new play will shine a light on seedy world of human trafficking

A powerful new play commissioned by Kabosh Theatre Company will shine a light on the hidden world of modern slavery and human trafficking in Northern Ireland.

Written by Belfast playwright Rosemary Jenkinson, Silent Trade exposes the human misery lurking in the leafy suburbs and student areas of the province’s capital through the plight of a young female immigrant forced into domestic servitude and prostitution to pay off debts owed to her traffickers.

Kabosh artistic director Paula McFetridge said reports of recent police operations against people traffickers had increased public awareness of what previously had been an invisible crime.

She said: “Rosemary and I have been talking about tackling this important subject for three and a half years and now the time is right to expose what is happening behind the curtains of homes across the north.”

New laws on modern slavery and human trafficking in Northern Ireland came into effect in 2015. Between 2012 and 2020 the number of potential victims of modern slavery rose by 750% in Northern Ireland from 15 individuals to 128.

Modern slavery and human trafficking hit the headlines late last year when the PSNI raided 27 brothels across Northern Ireland and charged two people on brothel keeping and human trafficking charges. An officer from the Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Unit said the offences were often ‘hidden in plain sight’.

As part of her research for the play, Rosemary spoke to members of the Nigerian community who had knowledge of human trafficking. She used these conversations to create the fictionalised story of Precious, a young Nigerian woman who is forced to work as a domestic servant for an affluent family in a posh neighbourhood in East Belfast.

As the story unfolds, Precious ends up working in a brothel in a rundown house in the Tate’s Avenue area. She is played by Nigerian-born Lizzy Akinbami in her first stage role.

She is joined by Louise Parker who plays two roles - Erin, the entitled, rich career woman who enslaves Precious and also Suzanne, a drug addict forced into prostitution to pay off debts.

Silent Trade, Lyric Theatre, February 22-26; Old Courthouse, Antrim, February 28; the Market Place Theatre, Armagh on March 3; and Ranfurly House, Dungannon on March 5.