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My Name is Rachel Corrie is a play based on the diaries and emails of Rachel Corrie. The diaries were edited by Katherine Viner and Alan Rickman, who directed it. Corrie was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who traveled as an activist to the Gaza Strip during the Second Intifada. She was killed while attempting to prevent an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Caterpillar D9 bulldozer from engaging in what she thought was the demolition of a home in a Palestinian residential area of Rafah, next to the border with Egypt. She was killed when the bulldozer -- intentionally or accidentally -- either drove over her or caused falling debris to land on her. The house in question was in an area the IDF had designated a security zone and claimed contained a network of smuggling tunnels connecting Egypt to the Palestinian side of Rafaharts.guardian.co.uk.
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Alan Rickman first staged My Name is Rachel Corrie in April 2005 at the Royal Court Theatre, London, and it went on to win the Theatregoers\' Choice Awards for Best Director and Best New Play, as well as Best Solo Performance for actress Megan Doddsguardian.co.uk. The play was scheduled to be transferred to the New York Theatre Workshop in March 2006. However, the New York theatre decided that the play was to be "postponed indefinitely", in fear of reactions from Jewish groups.nytimes.com Rickman and Viner denounced the decision and withdrew the show thenation.comcounterpunch.org
| “ | "This is censorship born out of fear, and the New York Theatre Workshop, the Royal Court, New York audiences - all of us are the losers." | ” |
The play received the following review from Michael Billington in April, 2005
| “ | ...Theatre has no obligation to give a complete picture. Its only duty is to be honest. And what you get here is a stunning account of one woman\'s passionate response to a particular situation.
And the passion comes blazing through in Corrie\'s eloquent reaction to her father\'s inquiry about Palestinian violence. As she says, if we lived where tanks and soldiers and bulldozers could destroy our homes at any moment and where our lives were completely strangled, wouldn\'t we defend ourselves as best we could?...arts.guardian.co.uk | ” |
Clive Davis gave a short assessment of the play for The Times in April, 2005
| “ | As for the scenes set in Israel — brilliantly evoked by Hildegard Bechtler’s bullet-pocked concrete set — an element of unvarnished propaganda comes to the fore. With no attempt made to set the violence in context, we are left with the impression of unarmed civilians being crushed by faceless militarists. Early on, Corrie makes a point of informing us that more Israelis have been killed in road accidents than in all the country’s wars put together. As she jots down thoughts in her notebook and fires off e-mails to her parents, she declares that “the vast majority of Palestinians right now, as far as I can tell, are engaging in Gandhian non-violent resistance”. Even the late Yassir Arafat might have blushed at that one.My Name is Rachel Corrie The Times April 18 2005 | ” |
My Name is Rachel Corrie played at the West End\'s Playhouse Theatre in London from March through May 2006. In July 2006 Josephine Taylor took over the role and the show played the Galway Arts Festival, before moving to the Edinburgh Fringe in August. It opened at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York in October 2006, with Megan Dodds returning as Corrie.
The recent production was reviewed by Peter Birnie of the Vancouver Sun January 29, 2008:
"An excellent piece of polemic, My Name is Rachel Corrie is a powerful slap at the state of Israel. Weighing the show simply on its merits as left-wing agitprop, this is a compelling production. The play asks us to condemn Israel\'s heavy-handed treatment of Palestinians, and does so with compelling intelligence. It closes with a particularly powerful piece of video, showing an adolescent Rachel Corrie speaking with youthful enthusiasm about helping shape a better world. Fine. Okay. But can we please see a companion piece of theatre about a certain desert-kingdom royal family and its deep complicity in fomenting terrorism against, among many others, Israel and the world\'s Jewish communities? Let\'s call it My Name is Osama bin Laden."Sun Review
Variety reports:
Jack Rose, from the CanStage board -- while admitting he has neither read nor seen the script -- said that "my view was it would provoke a negative reaction in the Jewish community." And philanthropist Bluma Appel, after whom CanStage\'s flagship theater is named, concurred. "I told them I would react very badly to a play that was offensive to Jews."\'Corrie\' canceled in Canada December 22 2006
The Seattle Repertory Theatre ran My Name is Rachel Corrie from March 15 to May 6, 2007, directed by Braden Abraham, featuring Marya Sea Kaminski as Corrie. This showing drew publicity and spawned the creation of a website, Rachel Corrie Facts, intended to provide information and context to balance to what many perceive as a "one-sided, anti-Israel diatribe."Should anti-Israel play be staged? JewishTheatre 2005
The Kitchen & Roundhouse Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland, staged a one-time performance on July 21 2007. It was directed by Lise Bruneau and featured Mindy Woodhead as Rachel.Woodhead, Mindy (July 6 2007). Secret Show. Retrieved on 2007-07-23. My Name Is Rachel Corrie was also one of the featured plays of the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, shown from July 6 - July 29 2007. Ed Herendeen was the director, and Anne Marie Nest played Corrie. Some performances have featured post-show discussions.MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE. Contemporary American Theater Festival (July 2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
The New Repertory Theatre [1] in Watertown, Massachusetts will stage My Name is Rachel Corrie March 8-March 30, 2008.
A reading of the play will take place in Dublin, Ireland, on March 15th 2008, at the Project Arts Centre. The reading is presented by Amnesty International Irish Section and Fishamble theatre company. Actress Megan Riordan will perform the reading.
Theatre Yes [2] in Edmonton, Alberta will stage My Name is Rachel Corrie March 28 - April 12, 2008.
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