The Glacity Theatre Collective will present an original work called “Masks” that exposes the harsh realities of domestic child sex trafficking in the United States.
The limited engagement performance will run Friday and Saturday, June 5 and 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Center for the Performing Arts Studio Theatre on The University of Toledo’s Main Campus.
Created to raise the public’s awareness of child sex trafficking, “Masks” features choreography by Ann Heckler, a teacher at Toledo Ballet; original music composed by Dr. Lee Heritage, UT associate professor of music; and text by Dr. Edmund Lingan, artistic director of the Glacity Theatre Collective and UT associate professor and chair of theatre and film.
Lingan described “Masks” as a “docu-dance-theatre” work because “the foundation of the written text is rooted in reports on sex trafficking published by the government and government-supported agencies providing aid to trafficking survivors.”
He said the combination of music, dance and text “has been carefully arranged to allow audience members to maintain a comfortable level of objective distance from the horrific details of sex trafficking brutality and to become aware of how trafficking systems work and how to spot it when it takes place in our own city right under our noses.
“If this production helps more people recognize the reality of the problem of trafficking and motivates some of them to do something about it, then this production will have been a success.”
“Masks” blends dance with readers’ theater. The dancers will portray the stories of survivors and those who trafficked them, while two actors will read the lines attributed to the dancers from another part of the stage.
The performance itself will be quite brief — about half an hour. Lingan said this will allow time for a discussion with representatives from local organizations that provide assistance to trafficking survivors.
The doors will open one half hour prior to curtain.
Tickets are $10 at the door or can be purchased in advance online here.
For more information, go to http://glacity.org.
