Open Your Eyes

A play about the dangers of trafficking recruitment.

In 2002 Geese were commissioned to deliver a project designed to raise awareness of the dangers of trafficking recruitment for young people by the British Council in Bulgaria . Over the course of 2003 the company researched and developed the project in consultation with the British Council Bulgaria and the International Organisation for Migration. In December 2003 the performance was delivered on four occasions in Sofia and Russe to audiences of over 700 young people at risk and professionals from key agencies involved in raising awareness around these issues.

The performance, Open Your Eyes, is a full mask piece, which has the dual advantage of being an incredibly powerful medium as well as overcoming any potential language barrier with the audience. In Bulgaria , Open Your Eyes was followed by a short interactive piece of ‘forum’ theatre, which was created in partnership with a local Bulgarian theatre company. This second piece of theatre replayed key scenes from the original show and invited audience members to enter the action and provide potential interventions.

Open Your Eyes reflects the whole process of trafficking, from the manipulation and trust building which traffickers use, through the violence and systematic psychological abuse of the ‘breaking down’ period to the emotional and psychological effects of continued enforced prostitution, ‘debt bondage’ and sexual violence.

A performance of Open Your Eyes would be equally well suited to a conference or training event designed to raise awareness amongst professionals working with victims, survivors or those involved in the trafficking of young people from Eastern to Western Europe.

"I really liked the fact that the play was performed without text - everything that happened was left to the imagination, the fantasy and the views of the audience"

"I liked that the actors were wearing masks - it makes you think that this could happen to anyone..."

"Without words, with only gestures, the actors expressed in an amazing way the moods and feelings of the characters..."

Feedback from young people in Bulgaria