sold

"Sold" will be performed again dur-
ing Freedom Week in NYC this Sept.

A brothel visits Lafayette Street
by Timothy M. Meinch

New York City--Dirty sheets hung from the ceiling, illuminated by industrial lighting within four black walls of Studio 440 Thursday and Friday night. Director Tessa Hauptman and the Off 8th Collective convincingly converted the Black Box Theater into a brothel.

The production is Hauptman's adaptation of the novel “Sold,” by acclaimed author and journalist Patricia McCormick. The story is based on McCormick's extensive interviews and field experience with women who were trafficked and sold in brothels in Nepal. It reveals the life stories of many women throughout the globe, more than the general public is aware.

“Thinking about a women being sold into slavery and being raped repeatedly everyday, I don't think people think about that and they don't know it's going on,” said Hauptman, a fine arts graduate of Adelphi University.

The fictional novel tells the story of Lakshmi, a character who embodies the horrors of sex trafficking as revealed in McCormick's research, while the theatrical production tells her story through five different female characters with emotive monologues, creating an interpersonal viewing experience for the audience.

“The whole idea is that you walk into a brothel when you come into the space,” Hauptman said of the unique Black Box Theater setup. “You're kind of put into this place you never knew existed before now.”

“Sold” merges the positions of audience and players by scattering chairs throughout the entire room, facing different directions. Attendees do not sit with their friends, or anyone for that matter, but become a part of the brothel, where the characters wander about and even engage with the viewers.

“I think that it makes (the audience) very uncomfortable, in a good way,” Hauptman said. “The audience is very immersed in it.”

The 26-year-old director said the purpose of “Sold” is to educate people about the issue, then motivate them to do research and use their skills to fight it. With a social justice issue so emotional and personal, art plays a significant role in the fight, according to activists.

“This could not be done without the arts,”said Deirdre Mars, New York State Director of the Not For Sale Campaign (NFSC), a nonprofit that educates and equips people to confront sex trafficking.

All of the proceeds from the two sold out showings went directly to NFSC, which set up an information table at the event. A wine and cheese information session also followed both performances, where multiple nonprofits and relief groups answered questions and shared activism opportunities with the attendees. Groups represented included the Nomi Network, the New York City Urban Project and NFSC.

“It's going from a place of not knowing anything, to a place of knowing so much that you might be overwhelmed, to a place of turning that into action,” Hauptman said of the structure of the evening.

Hauptman and the Off 8th Collective, comprised of Adelphi University alumni, first debuted “Sold” at their university and have since performed it multiple times throughout the city. They currently plan to show the production every day of Freedom week in September, a week dedicated to human trafficking awareness and advocacy in New York City.

“It is a human story of people who are complex and going through incredibly intense experiences and without the arts, it's hard to really convey,” Mars said. “We want to help everybody be empowered to use their own existing skills and resources to help slavery.”

Attendees learned about the Not For

sale campaign and other nonprofits at

tables after the performance.

Tessa Hauptman directed "Sold" in Studio 440's Black Box Theater