"For Sale" an original one-woman show
1 artist/activist. 1 partner. 1 dog. 1 RV. 1 yearlong road trip. 1 epic project. and YOU.
The Project:
For Sale is an
original one-woman show exploring the complex issues of sex trafficking in
America followed by a facilitated talk-back to give the audience tangible tools
to successfully combat sexual exploitation in their communities. Through a
series of monologues the audience gains insight into this multi-faceted
epidemic running rampant in this nation. The characters although fictitious,
are based on five years of extensive research with much of the information
gained through firsthand interviews with individuals who are involved in human
trafficking and those combating the issue
The play has a 15, 30, 45 and 60 min completed
version. I have had the opportunity to perform For Sale in
theaters, schools and at conferences with incredibly positive feedback.
My long-term goal is to publish and tour this
prevention education and outreach performance across the country. The final product will also include extensive
Director/Playwright notes, a facilitation guide, resources and a list of
methods of engagement to equip the audience with viable opportunities to combat
sex trafficking in their community and the nation.
The Goal:
My goal is to finish the play. I have
four monologues already written and am hoping to compile enough information
through in-person interviews to create 20 monologues. The idea behind this is
two-part. 1. If I was performing this play in your city for 3 nights, the
audience could come each night and technically see a different performance
because I would perform different monologues each night. 2. Certain monologues
will cater to varying audiences. The monologues I choose to perform for a high
school will be very different than the monologues I would want to perform for
truck drivers, law enforcement, or teachers.
My hope for
"For Sale" is to create a platform for dialogue- to make space for the many
individuals that are intertwined in the world of sex slavery; an attempt to be
a voice for the unheard, for the hundreds of thousands who have been silenced
through force, fraud, and coercion. I want an audience to leave my play
equipped with the knowledge, resources, and clear steps they can take to
becoming modern day abolitionists.
You:
So here is where you come in! I have 36 states, 69
cities and 12,000 miles of travel to do in a year, interviewing as many people
as I can along the way to complete my play. I am excited and eager to gain as
much knowledge as possible from experts of all spectrums to create
well-balanced, informed, inspiring, truthful accounts of the severity of sex
slavery in the U.S.
Sadly, as wonderful of a home as Caroline is she gets 6 miles to the gallon:ouch is right. So I am asking for your support to fund my project by raising $16,000.00 that will go towards the research/writing phase of my play.
- $1,500.00 will be designated to our "fix-it" fund, which will be the inevitable towing & repairs our 1985 Ford RV will undoubtedly need during a year of cross-country social justice awesomeness.
- $1,300.00 has been allotted for doggy day-care for Fern when we are in cities doing interviews.
- $800.00 goes to the 5% GoFundMe will receive for reaching my goal.
- $3,400.00 will go towards supporting the interviews with filming & voice recording equipment, transcribing and editing interviews and the many Earl Grey teas that will be ordered during the countless hours of writing epiphanies that will take place.
Check it out:
Take a look at my website:
www.mayalea.org where you can watch exclusive clips from a filmed early version of For Sale -or- click on one of the names below
- Ms. Madame, the "narrator" of the play. A high-powered businesswoman selling 'a product many would kill to have'
- Maria, an 11 yr old trafficked
from Guatemala to the US with false hopes of being a nanny
- Jessica, a 16 yr old trafficked
from North Carolina to Georgia by her 'boyfriend'
- Natasha, a 19 yr old trafficked
from Russia to NYC with false pretenses of becoming a model
Learn the facts:
Check out the
websites of a few of the organizations I have already interviewed and those I
will be interviewing along the way to become informed.
Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking www.combathumantrafficking.org/
Colorado Network to End Human
Trafficking www.coloradocrimevictims.org/human_trafficking.html
Amy's House Program, Kairos
Youth & Family Services
http://kairosyfs.org/programs-services/amys-house/ ">http://kairosyfs.org/programs-services/amys-house/
Life for the Innocent
Polaris Project
http://www.polarisproject.org/
Wake People Up
Not For Sale Campaign
http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/
National Human Trafficking
Resource Center
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/
National Human Trafficking Hotline: 888.3737.888
We have the power to "be the change [we]
wish to see in the world!" (Gandhi)
A special thanks to
those who helped make this possible:
My partner, Remy
for his commitment and passion to my work and for his patience as I learned my
way through iMovie for this project! My mother and father for their
unconditional support. Allyson Haseltine and Laura Brubaker my editing queens.
Nicholas Drury for helping film this project as well as listening to my
processing after each interview. Mickey Alpert and Nicholas Stockwell for
bouncing ideas off of for this project. Rosalind Newman of ZoomBeamz
Productions for the filming of For Sale and the opening and
closing clips of this film project.