By Chloe Setter, ECPAT UK Information Officer

‘The birds, only the birds can see’ is a production that includes physical theatre, live music and songs – not something that you might imagine would sit well with a show that describes itself as ‘a play about sex trafficking’. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Writer and director Xenia Orphanides tells me she was inspired to create something that told the story of sex trafficking here in the UK after she attended a related event near her home in North London earlier this year. She says: ‘I just had no idea that this was happening. It was shocking and I had to do something.’

And so grew the concept behind ‘The birds, only the birds can see’ – two stories that entwine into one about a girl whose life is affected by the fast-growing crime of sex trafficking in Britain.

We meet Lily, a rambling, quirky and troubled character who wants to attend a poetry class. Through the class and her interaction with its reticent but likeable teacher, Lily revisits the past: a dark and disturbing place where the modern realities of sex trafficking reveal themselves in all their sordid and unflinching horror.

We wait with baited breath to see how a world full of hope can unfurl into despair, fear and desolation as Lily is trapped by a charming man who promises to make her dreams come true. But instead of making Lily’s dreams, he steals them – along with her identity, freedom, and possibly her future.

From the confines of an unknown flat, the all-too-common story of coercion and abuse begins to unfold. But what this production captures so well are the emotions and implications of sexual exploitation, through outstanding performances from the four actors, set to a haunting loop of live music played by the in situ guitarist.

We track a story of grooming and deceit from its sinister inception to, in this story, its dramatic finish, and are left in no doubt of the trauma that such events have on young people.

Sitting in the intensity of the cosy Barons Court Theatre, we the audience are forced to face up to today’s reality: that sex trafficking exists here in the UK, in flats and houses on ‘normal’ streets. Girls like Lily are being abused and exploited for the gain of others in what can only be described as modern slavery.

Trapped inside a room with only a window to remind her of her old life, it is only the birds that see Lily and her pain. What Xenia Orphanides and XO Theatre are hoping to do is enable us all to see Lily and the thousands like her who are forced or manipulated into dangerous lives of captivity, drugs, sexual exploitation and sadness.

ECPAT UK is proud to support this production and its message that there is hope to be found, even in the darkest of places. We thank XO Theatre for helping us to promote our vital work in preventing the trafficking of children and young people in the UK and overseas. If you would like to make a donation to fund our work, please do so here: http://www.justgiving.com/ecpatuk/donate or send a cheque made payable to ECPAT UK to:

ECPAT UK, Grosvenor Gardens House,
Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0BS

To stay up to date about trafficking and ECPAT’s work, please sign up to our e-newsletter (top, right-hand side) of this page.

The birds, only the birds can see is showing at Barons Court Theatre from 9-22 Janaury 2012. Performances start at 7.45pm. Tickets cost £12. For more information, call the Box Office on 0208 932 4747 or email londontheatre@googlemail.com.