
In 2019 Pan’s Artistic Director, John Martin, visited Vietnam for a project funded by the British Council, the IOM (International Organisation for Migration) and the Vietnamese Government. The project aimed at raising awareness about human trafficking in rural Vietnamese communities.
More than a year later, John Martin reflects on the significance of this direct intervention, and the impact of Pan’s work in the UK and abroad in tackling human trafficking.
Recently, in one of our youth project presentations, I heard a young woman issue the following challenge: “If you were standing by a river and you saw a baby, who had been thrown into the water, floating past, would you jump in and rescue it?” Yes, of course, I thought.
She continued, “If you then discovered that further upstream someone was throwing babies into the river, would you go there and try to stop them?”. Again yes, of course I would.
The real challenge: “Would you abandon the baby floating past to stop the person throwing them in? Or would you rescue the baby knowing that more would be thrown in upstream?”
If you can’t do both it becomes a moral dilemma which is more or less insoluble.
But this wise teenager had shone the light on a very real situation. Many of us working with refugees, asylum seekers, survivors of trafficking and others here in the UK, know that there is hugely important work to be done with those who have made it through the terrors of their journeys and their experiences before leaving their countries.
We do this with love, humility, compassion and expertise and we know that it works. We repeatedly see the results, the empowerment, the pathways into some form of new normal life in the countries to which they have come.
It is tough but it is joyful.
But we also know that, upstream, someone is still “throwing babies into the river”. While we help the survivors of trafficking find a new life, we are aware that this is not solving the problem of trafficking which sends more victims down the stream, it is just helping to heal the wounds it inflicts.
Somewhere traffickers are at work, people are being tricked or forced into slavery and for all the “band-aid” activities we supply, however useful, we are not solving the root cause of the problem. We are just dealing with, mopping up, the results, aware that the flow of the trafficked will continue.
But then how do we, here in the UK, solve this dilemma?
There are some obvious ways: We can help raise awareness of human slavery so that public opinion supports action against it, we can participate where possible in advocacy through the press or with decision makers. And we trust that the large international organisations are working hard to interrupt the flow of slavery, to identify and arrest traffickers and to stop this terrifying “trade” in humans.
But recently we were able to contribute in another way. Let me explain.
PHASE 1 – Maintaining work in the UK

We signpost Amies members towards other organisations with specific areas of expertise such as housing, health and finance. They go on to enter employment, education and training and have new networks of friendships and support groups to help them deal with a new phase of their lives. In many cases we have helped them leave loneliness and isolation with its dangers of mental health and being groomed by extreme groups.
PHASE 2 – Accidental discovery at the source
In another part of our arts for social change work we were invited to train a group of young activists in Myanmar in the techniques of Forum Theatre, which allows audiences to explore alternative narratives to avoid social issues which affect their lives. Over several visits to Yangon and with the help of the British Council, we helped the trainees form into a semi-professional group called Human Drama.
Their first performance interventions in low socio-economic areas where literacy and civic awareness are low, were around sexual health and HIV awareness. But when they discussed with local Burmese communities which issues were most important to them, human slavery came surprisingly near the top of their list.
Working from their stories plays were created about real human slavery events and checked with local lawyers under an ‘Access to Justice’ programme and soon audience members were asking for advice about family members who had disappeared, presumed trafficked. On seeing these plays individual members of the public realised they could access legal support to liberate their husbands and sons who, typically, had been enslaved in the offshore fishing industry. They also became aware of how people can be lured into slavery. Many stories came back to us of men rescued and returned to their homes, women stopped from being trafficked over the border to Thailand for the sex trade (from which they are often sent back with HIV). Theatre began to work in these communities as a wake-up call and an awareness raiser.
PHASE 3 – scaling up theatre as a tool to prevent trafficking
After this work in Myanmar I was invited to take on a role in a much larger initiative. This was “upstream” – at the source. Only weeks after the deaths of 39 Vietnamese people discovered in a container in Essex, a project was underway to tackle the root causes of human trafficking.
In fact the project had been in planning for many months before that and was an impressive collaboration of the International Organisation for Migration, the British Council and the Vietnamese Government to do all they could to make Vietnamese people and families aware of the dangers of modern slavery and to show them the legal and police help they could use. Their goals were to make communities aware of the devices used by traffickers to trap people into slavery or to convince them they could earn foreign currency quickly by travelling abroad.
By tackling it at source the whole journey could be interrupted and there would be less abuse, violence, deaths and ruined lives of Vietnamese men and women.

By doing this tens of thousands of people could be contacted in the areas most affected by trafficking and it would not be in the form of a didactic lecture but a community debate between peers about how they could solve the problem themselves. When a community is empowered to find its own solutions they are far more likely to work than when they hear diktats from external authorities. Then they will have the chance to take action to avoid their loved ones suffering.
Theatre, and particularly Forum Theatre, is particularly well positioned to do this. It can recreate scenes which people will recognise from their lives, and the lives of those they know, with characters who will be like people’s own mothers, sons and relatives. Such stories touch them directly and they engage with thinking about the change they want to see.
Of course the situation is complex. In Northern Vietnam there is a tradition of going abroad to earn money and there are certainly examples of people who really have come back home with enough money for a much better lifestyle. This can seem very attractive to young people who see no other way to progress. There are official agencies to engage people in overseas labour and there are many more unofficial ones which have “better deals”. Vietnamese law, we were told, does not define people as trafficked if they leave the country willingly. So anybody who was deceived into thinking that a golden future awaited them and paid for a ticket to a neighbouring country may have been met there and bundled into a truck and deprived of their papers, but that may not qualify as trafficking in the eyes of the Vietnam government. Being lured into a marriage with a relatively rich man in neighbouring China may seem attractive but on arrival it can be enslavement and sexual abuse by a whole family. Without papers, money or language escape is almost impossible. Physical and mental abuse are widespread.
Training professional performers in a new set of community interactive skills in a very short time is not easy. Our first training was one week in Hanoi in late 2019 and should have been followed with further training in March 2020. With Covid restrictions this visit became impossible and was replaced by a mixture of Zoom links into rehearsals in provincial theatres (often at extremely early UK hours) and home-made video presentations about how to further develop the necessary skills.
Fortunately some of the trainees in Hanoi knew the communities from which the 39 who had died in the UK had come, and others had plentiful stories of those who had been tricked by trafficker “con-men” into travelling, resulting in abuse, physical and mental torture or death. One said he would like to take us to his village, where everyone had a relevant story to tell.
If some, more established, artists found it hard to believe that audiences could really participate in this way, there were plenty of others who were excited by the thought of connecting with them in a totally new, interactive, way.
With remarkable skill they all created plays relevant to their areas and took them out to their communities. They covered abuse and injury along the trafficking routes, enslavement and beatings at the destinations in Europe and the mental health results of being sold as a “wife” into China. Each play was drawn from locally sourced accounts. These events drew audiences in with popular songs and traditional dances, then introduced them to the idea of watching a short play which they would recognise, and which they would be able to change. The people watched, saw their own stories, recognised the trickery and deceit that they had seen around them and were invited to intervene and suggest how they could and should behave to stop the trade in humans.

That debate doesn’t end when the performance ends. It carries on into their lives and they will be ready to challenge situations when they emerge in real life. The play gives them a chance to “rehearse” alternative behaviours which could result in people’s lives being saved.
The performers in the training were surprised when I insisted that “Theatre can save lives”. This is not what they had been taught in their theatre training, but it was reinforced when a visiting Vietnamese government official told them that they were the front line in the fight against human trafficking and after one of the pilot performances a woman approached the performers and said:
“If the troupe (had) performed sooner, my son would not have died. The play shows exactly how my son died in the UK…”

Due to the pilot performances 8,000 people have been empowered to do that and now many, many more can also be so affected.
So where does that leave us, here in the UK? The Vietnam project, like that in Myanmar, has demonstrated how skills of those of us privileged enough to have been trained in such techniques can share our knowledge and seed projects in places, upstream, where awareness can help stop such activities “at source”.
While we must of course continue our work here, giving opportunities for the survivors of trafficking and others to lead a full and enjoyable life, let us realise that we also have skills which are useful elsewhere. Working with local partners and international organisations who are increasingly realising the effectiveness of the arts in these fields, we can be part of the solution to end what is an unacceptable scar on humanity.
John Martin, February 2021
take a look at this video about the project made by the British Council, Vietnam

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Once a troubled young person searching for direction, I found a sense of purpose through a drama workshop that changed my life. That experience opened my eyes to the power of creativity, expression, and community.
Inspired by how theatre helped me find my voice, I went on to train and develop as a drama facilitator, using performance and storytelling to help others explore their own potential and confidence.
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Hannah Wengård is a multidisciplinary artist, fundraiser, and project coordinator working across the arts and charity sectors. She leads on safeguarding and learning & development for one of MSF UK’s fundraising teams while freelancing in theatre, both on stage and screen. Passionate about creating trauma-informed spaces, she explores theatre, movement, and music in participatory arts. Hannah holds a BA in World Performance from East 15 Acting School (2022) and an MA in Global Creative and Cultural Industries from SOAS (2023).
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Brian is delighted to be the Chair of Pan's Board of Trustees after being a member of the board for over 14 years. He is a practising Barrister specialising in Criminal Law.
He regularly attends the theatre, live music venues and film events. "My love of the arts, coupled with my knowledge of people gained through my work, led me to join Pan"
Brian is convinced that the Arts can change lives. He hopes, along with all the Pan family, to continue the great work of his predecessors in championing the power of live performance, to explore cultural diversity and tolerance.
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Alice is the UK MD for Icepay, an Amsterdam based payments fintech. Alice was previously at the British Business Bank, where she led strategy, economic analysis, product and business development from just after its founding in 2015 to 2021. She was involved there in supporting the UK life sciences, fintech, and creative sectors, as well as broader diversity and inclusion work. The BBB is the UK Government’s delivery arm for SME finance and the largest domestic institutional investor in UK venture capital.
Alice also spent 5 years at Barclays plc and Barclaycard, in corporate and data-driven strategy roles. Prior to that, she worked for Lloyds Banking Group in Cards and Prophet, a strategic marketing and brand consultancy. She began her career at McKinsey, latterly specialising in corporate finance and strategy.
Alice earned her undergraduate degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and her MBA from INSEAD in France. She is a dual US and UK citizen and a fluent Mandarin Chinese speaker.
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Adam is a Director at Savills. He heads up the Place-Shaping team within London, helping deliver programmes of cultural activity at sites across the UK.
He is particularly active in areas of diversity & inclusion and community engagement with an interest in the ways in which the arts can be used as a means through which to connect audiences from diverse backgrounds. He enjoys helping shape environments which foster collaboration between people and communities and in understanding the ways in which people interact with the built environment in new, unexpected and creative ways.
Prior to Savills, Adam held leadership positions at property companies including WeWork and The Crown Estate. He also worked at English Heritage helping deliver major investment projects at historic visitor destinations including Dover Castle and Charles Darwin's home, Down House, in Kent.
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Kate is a Trusts & Foundations Fundraiser working in the Arts and Community sectors. She has built a career fundraising to widen access to the arts and culture and believes that everyone should be able to experience the positive difference that interaction with the arts can offer. "I am in awe of the amazing work that Pan does and am really excited that I can be part of this small but mighty team."
Kate is based in Sheffield and works with a variety of clients including Cast (Doncaster’s flagship theatre), The Showroom, Choir With No Name, Peterborough Sings! and African Women’s Health Group.
She is also a choral conductor and voice specialist and never happier than when working with a singer to help them get the very best from their voice. She sings with a few local choirs and is a keen folk musician enjoying the vibrant folk scene of Sheffield whenever possible.
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Katherine is an Arts Fundraiser and Theatre Practitioner. Her goal as a fundraiser is to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to access the arts and its unique and life changing power. She has been an advocate of Pan’s work for some time now and is very excited and grateful to be part of this incredible team. Her role is to ensure all projects have the funds they need to deliver their necessary and life altering programmes.
She was previously a fundraiser at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, and has completed a Master’s Degree in Applied Theatre at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.She is also a Creative Practitioner at Haringey Shed Youth Theatre.
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Emmeline has worked in the administration and hospitality sectors for a decade, using her meticulous eye for detail and financial acumen to improve company processes and help places run more efficiently. She joined Pan as Administration Officer and swiftly became a centre of support for both our projects and office team, always on hand for the variety of tasks thrown her way, offering solutions and ideas to move forward with. She is thoroughly passionate about Pan providing the best possible experience for our participants.
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Joanna brings over 14 years of experience in arts management, with previous roles at Somerset House, a regional theatre, and a puppetry festival. She currently serves as a trustee for Outside Edge Theatre Company.
Throughout her career, Joanna has driven impactful growth for the organisations she’s worked with. Notably, she built a network of 150+ volunteers for a regional theatre, enhanced large-scale public events with supplementary programming, and supported Pan to expand its activities by over 60%, doubling its turnover within three years.
Joanna is deeply passionate about the transformative power of creativity to connect, heal, and empower communities. Her work is rooted in a deep commitment to equity, disrupting power dynamics, and centering the voices of those the work is for.
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John is a founding member of Pan and has been the Artistic Director throughout its history. He is an actor, director, playwright, drama facilitator, writer and a university professor.
Originally a dancer and actor, he trained at Bristol University and the Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris. International work has taken him across the globe and he has led training sessions and directed plays in more than a dozen countries.
Founding Pan led him to concentrate on using the Arts for Social Change in a multi ethnic society and the success of this led to invitations by various NGOs to deliver programmes to aid the rehabilitation of people affected by war, natural disaster, social injustice and poverty in many countries.
“I regularly write and teach on issues around interculturalism, creativity, playfulness and theatre for development both in the UK and abroad. Luckily I have an eclectic bunch of inspired colleagues who all make Pan the special place that it is today.
The Arts can Change Lives!”
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Zephryn Taitte, A gold arts award attainee and one of the co founders of Weapon of Choice now takes a back seat and marvels at the great work produced by the team. He looks forward to rejoining the team in a new capacity as a WOC trainee mentor.
In his early years he was selected by the British Council and Oval House theatre on a sponsored international trip for potential young leaders in the arts. Shortly after, in 2008, he worked with Pan as a participant and Young Leader in 'There Aint No Black In The Union Jack' at Hackney Empire.
He is a believer in performing arts being able to educate and inspire young people. There is a need in the community for greater opportunities for young people to express themselves in meaningful and creative ways, and so provide an alternative to some of the more negative behaviours teenagers can otherwise engage in.
You may also recognise him as Cyril Robinson from the BBC's Call the Midwife.
Sheyda is a facilitator and the camera woman behind a lot of Pan's films and photos over the years. Joining Fortune she immediately felt at home and eagerly acted and wrote for the group in many productions. She rose to be a Project Director with Fortune and founded our project - Papillon - for newly arrived young Afghan Women who had been brought to the UK after the fall of Kabul.
"I have seen the beauty of my work through different lenses. Like my camera, I like to focus on making changes in our participants' lives and hopefully make their blurry vision of the new place that they have to call home a little more focused and clear I know in Pan this can be achieved."
She herself is an example of such an achievement and this was recognised by Visa when they awarded her as one of the twenty most important refugee women working for communities in Europe.
She is sometimes called "Hedgehog". It's just a Pan nickname with a long story behind it, but others know her as Sheyda or the participant that never left!
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Laura is a pianist and an Artist Facilitator and Accompanist for the Amies Freedom Choirs.
One of the things she loves the most about Amies is how the sessions enable a unique space for connection, creativity, and mutual learning, where everyone can be equally valued and heard. From her first day , she has felt part of a very welcoming, safe, supportive, kind and empowering family - it’s truly special.
Her role not only involves music-making, but also contributing to growing as a group, building self-confidence, promoting connection and a sense of belonging, facilitating the space for everyone’s self-expression and supporting their path in exploring their own creativity - always so exciting and inspiring!
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E is an actor and musician, releasing songs under the name “ Ezae”. He is the Project Director for Fortune, Pan's project working with young adult refugees and migrants and Project Director for Weapon of Choice's work in Bradby Youth Club. E was a participant in early Weapon of Choice days and has grown through the organisation be a great facilitator, leading workshops with young refugees and asylum seekers as well as for the Weapon of Choice programmes. He is also also a facilitator for Greenwich & Lewisham Young Peoples’ Theatre.
Email Emmanuel 'E' : [email protected]
Ehireme is the Project Director of the Weapon of Choice Theatre Project, a facilitator of the school residencies projects and the producer of the 'Pan Talks: Poetry Night' event.
He says :"I do this type of work because I want to give to the Pan participants what I never received when I was a young person. There are so many gaps that young people fall through and I'm doing my part to fill the voids that I can see in society. It's a passion!"
The WoC Theatre Projects and the WoC School Residencies projects do a plethora of things that improve the young peoples' lives. At the end of our projects young people notice an increase in their confidence. In addition, building their stage presence is a transferable skill that can be used with peers and adults. And finally, they start to believe that they can achieve whatever they want to! (Cliché, but true).
Ehireme is a performance poet and a published author of 'Points Of Contact' - a collection of poems highlighting experiences of young people and some of his own from adolescence to adulthood. The themes are; family dynamics, fatherhood, nature, the black experience and the relationship between the police and young black men.
"I like to use my skills of story telling and creative writing to support the work I do with the young people I work with."
Email Ehireme : [email protected]
Bruno is an actor, musician and facilitator. He is the leading artist and Project Director for all Weapon of Choice’s work in alternative provision.
He is an experienced practitioner with a passion for making sure young people are heard. He’s deeply committed to working with young people that have been excluded from mainstream education. Bruno has led residencies in pupil referral units such as Beachcroft AP Academy and Camden Centre for Learning for over 5 years.
He was at the forefront of WoC’s first venture into school residencies and has delivered projects in Haverstock School, Hampstead School, Acland Burghley, Saint Gabriel’s College and several workshops in The UCL Academy, Highbury Grove School, Sacred Heart School and City Heights.
Bruno never gives up on young people and believes that they all have potential to be successful leaders. He combines youth work values and principles, artistic excellence and a belief in all young people in his practice. Young people and colleagues love working with him.
He has experience training young people to facilitate support groups and believes in giving meaningful responsibility and experience to young leaders.
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Brie has a long association with Pan, having started as a work placement in our office. She then joined our WoC Theatre Group as a performer and also gained performance experience in other youth companies. Before long she was asking if she could learn facilitation skills and became a peer facilitator in WoC Theatre Project. And now she brings her skills to the WoC Residencies and to the Fortune Group.
Adwoa joined Pan as an actor/story-teller in its early days and has been linked with it ever since. She was instrumental in the growth of the Fortune group of young adult refugees and this led to her involvement in our work with female Survivors of Human Trafficking, co-founding the Amies group. As this developed, her training as a singer came into play and she became the Project Director of the Amies Choir (now the Amies Freedom Choir) for female survivors of trafficking which has had great success both as a means to empower the women and as a joyous performing group. Adwoa is also the Project Director for Amies London, a drama group for female survivors of trafficking.
Adwoa also works as a professional singer, having sung with the Royal Opera House, Sadlers Wells, Pegasus Opera, Chineke Orchestra, Grand Union Orchestra amongst others. She is also a session singer for Voquality Singers and often does solo work exploring Jamaican/Caribbean music.
Of her work with the Amies Project Adwoa says:
“I like to help the participants I work with recognise and strive to fulfil their potential. In Pan's Amies programme participants grow in confidence and realise they don't have to "settle" for a life that has been prescribed by the adversity they have faced in their lives. They feel that they can move beyond expectations, and make friendships in a supportive environment that last for years. The Amies choirs, as well as performing already written repertoire, work together to create their own music and have recently been involved in composing vocal music strands for an installation at the Freedom Festival in Hull based around the "Sirens" from Greek mythology which had a fantastic response from the audience."
Email Adwoa: [email protected]