Tanya Cubric stars in Ella Dorman-Gajic’s Trade which will open at Omnibus Theatre on 15 February to 19 February, as one of 11 productions rescheduled at the venue following the cancellation of VAULT Festival.
Directed by Maddy Corner the cast is Tanya Cubric (Jana), Ojan Genc (Stefan/Nikola) and Eleanor Roberts (Katarina/Elena). Set in Serbia, Bosnia and the UK, Trade is a thought-provoking, unflinching new play exploring morality and power within the European sex-trafficking industry.
Trade was shortlisted for the 2020 Snoo Wilson Award and Slam Soaps New Writing Competition (out of 1,500 entries). It was developed at Drama Centre London and streamed online to an overwhelmingly positive response. All performances will also be captioned in English and Serbian.
10% of all ticket sales will go to Unseen, a leading UK charity fighting modern slavery. Today, over 20 million people are trafficked around the world. That number is higher than in all of history. 70% of those are female. This brave new play puts a brutal underground world centre stage.
You’re starring in Trade at The Omnibus Theatre, what can you tell us about the show?
Trade is set just after the final NATO bombings of Yugoslavia in 1999 and tells the story of Jana: a girl who is about to leave Serbia to go to London with her new boyfriend Stefan. Things do not go to plan. Without giving too much away… the play explores the problematic concept of ‘the perfect victim’ and the brutal underground world of human trafficking.
It was originally scheduled to play at VAULT Festival, what does it mean to you to now be able to perform at The Omnibus Theatre?
It was devastating to get the news about the vault festival cancellation another year running..! And there were many shows who have been greatly impacted by this. We are so fortunate that The Omnibus swooped in to our rescue so efficiently! Thank you!!!
Tell us a little about your character?
Jana, like anyone would be in this situation, is forced into survival mode…. & these survival tactics can be brutal, imperfect, self-serving, self-sacrificing, hardening , protective.. depending how you look at it..! Extreme circumstances bring out extreme characteristics in people.
How do you think audiences will react to the unflinching subject matter?
I hope they don’t distance themselves from it… I think it’s only human to have self-preservation tactics to tell ourselves how , ‘this would and could never happen to me’ but Ella’s writing has so much lightness, pace and humour in it which carries the difficult themes and let you really go with the story. So strap in…!
What was it about Ella Dorman-Gajic’s writing that appealed to you the most?
Her poetry with dealing with the subject matter. She’s also written a character with so many different shades and textures that I think people will see many unexpected parts of themselves reflected in Jana.
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see Trade?
It’s a rollercoaster 60 minute play that’s going to make you squirm in your seat at times at times.
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