Sold

Published Monday 29 October 2007 at 10:10 by Kevin Berry

William Wilberforce was the MP for Hull, and Sold, written by John Godber and Jane Thornton, is Hull Truck’s response to the anniversary of Wilberforce’s great achievement - the abolition of the slave trade. The play’s central character is a bonded sex slave and the time is very much now.

Godber and Thornton are concerned with how people respond when they are told of something horrific. They make their story immediate and close and quoted statistics of the sex trade give the broader picture.

Anja, a Moldavian girl, has been sold into prostitution by her cousin. Just suppose, say the writers, that a Hull journalist meets Anja in London and then, just suppose, he writes an article about her.

The journalist is essentially a decent man and Anja is the same age as his step-daughter. He pays off Anja’s huge debt and brings her to Hull. This causes all sorts of conflicts within his family and with his friends.

Joshua Richards as Ray, the journalist, is as upright as we would all like to be but so seldom are. His wife, played by Kate Baines, is as bluntly realistic as many of us would be and she feels threatened. Kasia Halpin as Anja carries a heartbreaking responsibility with distinction. There is abiding commitment from everyone on stage.

Sold packs brutal and sordid punches, but only where required. Its tragic climax is hurried and ineffectual, but it succeeds in forcing audiences to confront an issue that may be much closer than they would like to believe.