It’s so nice to have a filmmaker and editor in the family. I’m grateful to my bro Matt, of Unveil Studios, who does such quick and professional work. He made this trailer go a mile with footage captured during a rehearsal of the World Premiere in a space that required much improvisation.

Watching this footage excites me. We’re putting so much work to get the tour on its legs, that I often forget about the story. Seeing this trailer reminds me of the play itself, the moments that come alive, the journey of Jason and 18. What a thrill to see your work find breath, life, animation through talented actors.

I’m proud to share with you this short trailer, and eager to invite you to see the play as it goes on tour.

Enjoy!

Check out this new video about the 2012 tour. Alida Lowe talks about the impact She Has A Name will have in communities to promote the arts and justice across Canada.

I was thrilled to learn last week that She Has A Name was selected to be in the 25th Victoria Fringe Festival, August 25 – September 4, 2012.

The tour is becoming more and more real.  It’s an incredible experience, really.  Stepping out on that limb to bring it to life, with an amazing team of talented people who believe in the story and all that it means.  We’re excited about producing powerful and meaningful theatre.

We’ve set a critical deadline to raise $120,ooo by February 29.  We see this as a must-meet funding goal by this deadline.  If we don’t reach it, we can’t move forward.  I’m pleased to report that we have raised $55,000 toward that goal.  We’re nearly half way there.  I’m amazed, but not surprised, at the generous and incredible support of audiences, friends, family who are believing with us and working alongside us to make the tour a reality:

Insert the thermometer graphic here. No, we are not the United Way.  But we have our own graphic.  Look at us go!

Thanks for walking with us, believing in me, and championing this play.  I can’t wait!  What a Spring, Summer and Fall it will be.

This is how the tour is shaping up (stars beside the place and date indicate we’re pretty darn sure we’ll be there – for sure at the Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary and Victoria Fringes!):

Lethbridge | May 23 – 27*

Saskatoon | May 30 – June  3

Ottawa | June 6 – June 10

Montreal | June 14 – 24*

Halifax | July 3 – 8

Winnipeg | July 18 – 29*

Calgary | August 3 – 11*

Edmonton | August 16 – 26

Victoria | August 24 – September 3*

Vancouver | September 6 – 16

Kelowna | September 17 – 30

Red Deer | October 1 – 6*

Thematman put together this promo for the She Has A Name tour.  Looking forward to uploading more interviews with the creative team and some actors in the upcoming weeks.

We’re looking for different ways to make the tour a reality.  If you have ideas, connections, or resources that would help, please drop me a line!

You can learn all about the tour here.

It was a privilege to be part of the first ever TEDx event in Red Deer this year.  The event was all about connections and there was a great line up of speakers.

Here’s my talk, followed by a reading from She Has A Name, a scene where JASON has a Skype conversation with his wife ALI who is at home with the kids in Canada while he is far off in Bangkok investigating a human trafficking case.

My thanks to Christopher Schulz, Lisa Spencer Cook and Burnt Thicket Theatre’s James Popoff  for their offering their talent and energy to this day.

View all of the TEDx Red Deer videos here.

[View my other page of R4R photos]

Here are a few more photos from our amazing day out at Gull Lake for the first ever Alberta Ride for Refuge.

Aren’t we a handsome team?  Look at those thighs of thunder (cousin Luke).  The Koomen team pictured, in part, below are Marg K, Luke S, Cait S, Andrew K, Travis Y, Todd N, and Nick K.

The open road.  Alberta is beautiful in all seasons.

Luke and Nick on the long road.

Post-Ride chats.

[View my other page of R4R photos]

Here’s an update from Alida Lowe, Producing Director of Burnt Thicket Theatre, on tour funding. 

We’re already over 30% of our fundraising goal for the IndieGoGo campaign! This is so encouraging.

I’m grateful to all who have given and with expectation look forward to hitting our $10,000 goal in the next 19 days. We’re proud of the fact that we are paying actors a living wage to tell this story. We wouldn’t have it any other way. That’s where 60% of the budget for the tour will go!

It’s a risk to pursue a dream as big as the She Has A Name tour. But all things worthwhile are worth the work, the energy, and the audacity. We believe thousands more people will be compelled to respond in justice to the evils of human trafficking in our world because they see the show.

Thanks for believing in this story with me and the team and for helping to make it a reality.

You can donate toward the IndieGoGo campaign here.

POIGNANT PLAY- Denise Wong and Aaron Krogman starred in the world premiere of She Has A Name this past spring. The play, written by local author Andrew Kooman, played to sold-out audiences in Red Deer and Calgary. A fundraising campaign is underway to support a North American tour next year.

photo submitted

A fundraising campaign has been launched to see a local playwright’s critically acclaimed play about human trafficking tour North America.

Burnt Thicket Theatre and Raise Their Voice Against Injustice are planning to take Andrew Kooman’s poignant work She Has A Name on the road next year.

The IndieGoGo campaign for the ‘She Has A Name Tour’ aims to raise $10,000 this summer through social networking. The goal is to secure the actors who will perform some 80 shows in 13 cities across Canada and the United States.

The play premiered in Calgary and Red Deer earlier this year to critical acclaim and sold-out runs.

The story follows Canadian investigator (Jason) who poses as a john to build a case against a brothel trafficking girls into Bangkok. He must win the trust of a young girl forced to work as a prostitute who is known as ‘Number 18’ and convince her to risk her life to testify for the sake of justice.

“Preparing to bring the play on tour feels a lot like what it was to premiere the play this year, only on a much larger scale,” explains Kooman.

“There’s a lot more to plan for and we need to raise more funds. The motive is the same, though. We want to bring powerful theatre to audiences and tell a compelling story that raises awareness about human trafficking.”

Burnt Thicket and Raise Their Voice plan to stage the show for audiences across Canada and in cities in the U.S. including Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, Grand Rapids and New York.

“The feedback from the world premiere has inspired us to take the show on the road so thousands more people can experience the story.”

Winner of the Scripts At Work/Alberta Playwright Network Award in 2009, She Has A Name provides profound insight into human trafficking in southeast Asia.

“Theatre, like addressing justice, is personal: both involve very human and personal responses,” says Kooman. “What better way than to use social media to ask individuals who experienced the play to be part of making the tour a reality.

“The campaign invites people who saw the play and their networks to give small financial donations and offers perks for giving in return. The play has proven to be an effective tool to discuss the realities of trafficking, an issue that is getting greater and greater media exposure.”

Kooman said She Has a Name is based on an incident in Thailand where a storage container transporting more than 100 people ran out of gas and was simply abandoned. Ultimately about 50 people lost their lives. That tragedy was a kind of a trigger for the plot.

“The whole purpose of writing the play was to imagine one life – one girl – caught up in the sex trade. It’s been amazing to see that this play can be used as a catalyst to get people engaged in the issue of human trafficking. And that’s what we really want to do through this tour – to bring this story to thousands more people across North America.”

Supporters say the play is an eye-opening experience to the reality of millions who live in such horrific conditions.

“This play brings the nameless victims of trafficking into our western world and makes them all too close and real to ever forget,” said Mark Wollenberg, the Western Canadian representative of International Justice Mission Canada, an agency that works overseas to secure justice for victims of trafficking.

Beyond the IndieGoGo fundraising campaign Burnt Thicket and Raise Their Voice will unveil a multi-faceted approach that includes corporate sponsorship, private donations, gifts in kind and special events to raise the projected $400,000 it will take to bring the production to 13 North America cities from May to October of 2012.

Kooman regularly travels internationally to write and partners with non-profit organizations to teach on writing, creativity and identity. He has a gift for showing the harsh realities many in the world face while pointing readers to practical ways they can help make a difference.

Earlier this year, a book was released featuring stories by Kooman chronicling the plight of migrants and refugees in Malaysia. He wrote 26 pieces for Disappointed by Hope: 30 Days of Prayer. Although the stories are fictionalized for confidentiality reasons, they are based on actual accounts, case studies and interviews of refugees.

Click on the following link to learn more about the IndieGoGo Fundraising Campaign for the ‘She Has A Name 2012 Tour’.

“There is nothing more dangerous to the perpetrators of injustice than people who believe in their hearts that it must stop and who act upon that belief,” says Kooman of what helps fuel his passion to move forward with the production. “So I guess I’m motivated to engage people personally and be engaged personally to that end.”

Check out www.andrewkooman.com and www.indiegogo.com/She-Has-a-Name-2012-Tour.

editor@reddeerexpress.com

I’m pleased to announce the launch of a newly designed website for the 2012 Tour of She Has A Name.

www.shehasaname.net – check it out!

Raise Their Voice has uploaded more video from The Trafficked + Exploited event, including Braden Scharfenberg’s song “More Than A Memory.” Braden’s currently in studio recording this song. I’m looking forward to the future of this song especially as it connects with our upcoming campaign to bring She Has A Name on tour. Will keep you in that loop!

More Than A Memory, by Braden Scharfenberg from Raise Their Voice on Vimeo.