Alum Writes Play About Sex Trafficking

A St. Ambrose alum brought a looming Iowa issue into full view with an original play that recently opened at the Quad City Theatre Workshop in Davenport.

Aaron Randolph III, a 2012 SAU graduate, wrote Broken, a play about the life of a young girl from Davenport who becomes trapped and manipulated into sex trafficking. Tyson Danner, QC Theatre Workshop Artistic Director, directed the production. The play premiered Aug. 25 at the Workshop and played the next two consecutive weekends. The production received a massive response and continued to run Sept. 15 and 16.

The play depicts the mind of Alyssa (played by Jessica Denney), referred to as Ally (played by Laila Haley) during childhood memories. The story unravels the chaos of her life after high school student A.J. (played by Keenan Odenkirk) makes her the victim of a date-rape drug at a high school party. After A.J.'s blackmailing and clashes with her mother Sharon (played by Jennifer Popple), she is manipulated by her older boyfriend Shaun (played by Thomas Alan Taylor) and loses herself to the confusion and force of sex trafficking.

Throughout the play, the audience sees Alyssa's memories and thoughts as she is interrogated by Detective Mark (played by Michael J. King).

The entire play takes place on a small hexagonal platform covered in sand and dressed with a few benches and a table. It appears to portray the peace of mind that she finds when drawing pictures of a beach.

"I tried to create a play where the audience experiences what goes on in the main character's head; it's not perfectly preserved," Randolph, 38, said. "The concept is to see a memory as it plays out in her mind."

Two documentary-makers on the Workshop board inspired the idea for the play. Randolph and Danner watched a documentary about human trafficking in Iowa and felt the need to research the topic further.

"I was shocked because I thought, 'not in Iowa,'" Randolph said. "I like to write plays about things that surprise me because if I can learn then so can others. The more I learned about human trafficking, the more I felt it is a really important story to tell."

They touched base with and gained resources from Braking Traffik, a local resource and legislative advocate for survivors of human trafficking, which began a year of intense research for Randolph. Researching included watching many documentaries, reading survivor autobiographies, and reading books and interviewing counselors, law enforcement, and a sexual assault nurse examiner.

"Researching the topic was like submerging my head in water," Randolph said. "I could only do so much before I needed to come up for air. It was really dark."

He made his goal to tell an interesting story in which the audience would empathize with and feel the emotional trauma endured by the main character.

"My goal is to make the audience care," Randolph said. "A lot of plays approach social justice like an after-school special, but I feel like people only do something if they care about it. If they are going to care, they need an emotional connection to it."

Although the play has closed at the Workshop, Randolph and Danner are in the process of making local and regional connections that may lead to more productions of the play. Currently, they are reaching out to Braking Traffik organizations in other communities. In addition, Randolph may adapt the play specifically for performances to high school students, who are prime candidates for manipulation and human trafficking.

About the Author

Randolph began acting in high school and explored directing and playwriting at SAU. He has written and produced 10 plays and currently is writing a play for Davenport Junior Theatre. Some of his other plays include Arthur & Merlin, A Green River, and an adaption of Susan Glaspell's The Inheritors.

In addition, he has composed original scores for SAU's productions of The Tempest and Richard III and Davenport Junior Theatre's productions of Pegora the Witch and Ramona Quimby.

He currently works for Twin State Technical Services and is president of the QC Theatre Workshop board. He is married to Lisa (who earned her MBA in 2015 at SAU) and has a 14-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter.