| My Name is Rachel Corrie | Bareboards Productions |
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“Death smells like homemade apple sauce as it cooks on the stove. It is not the strangling sense of illness. It is not fear. It is freedom.” – Rachel Corrie, Aged 14[1]
Five years since peace activist Rachel Corrie was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza town of Rafah, My Name is Rachel Corrie is coming to Belvoir St Theatre. The acclaimed and revered play based on the journals and writings of Rachel from her childhood bedroom in Olympia, Washington, to her death in Gaza, will have its Australasian premiere on May 14.
Rachel Corrie was a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement, a non-violent pro-Palestinian activist group. Within days of her death on March 16 2003, the numerous vivid and expressive emails she had sent her family and friends, as well as many of her lifelong journal entries, were published, with the consent of her family, and Rachel Corrie was given new life.
Adapted for the stage in 2005 by actor Alan Rickman and journalist Katharine Viner, My Name is Rachel Corrie is the story of one woman’s journey in the global struggle for sense and justice. The play offers a transportative and deeply personal insight into the journey from apathy to action.
The play has seen two sell-out runs in London and seasons across America and Canada, including a controversial, last-minute cancellation in New York. Two days after the Belvoir St Theatre opening, the first Arabic version of the play will premiere in Israel.
Director Shannon Murphy says, “Rarely do I come across a play that is such a phenomenal read it makes me leap off the sofa in amazement. My Name is Rachel Corrie did that for me.
“Rachel’s story speaks to people with a passion, or people with the desire to find one. Rachel’s strong sense of service is something that is both enlightening and tragic. Our aim is to ensure our production is as raw, delightful, powerful and motivating as Rachel’s words. We are very lucky to have this production in Australia and look forward to recreating Rachel’s life and story in the intimate Downstairs Belvoir St Theatre space,” she said.
My Name is Rachel Corrie opens on 14 May at the Belvoir St Downstairs Theatre, with Belinda Bromilow (Boy gets Girl, McLeod’s Daughters, The Rage in Placid Lake) playing the title role.
'We look to our theatres to be our independent forum, our pulpit, our truth teller and witness. Plays written in blood like My Name Is Rachel Corrie are not meant to be "acceptable" or reach a consensus"…Nor should our theatre be "fair" and balanced like a boring op-ed page. Give us plays of passion and commitment, for heaven's sake - not caution, compliance, and fear.” – Kelly Stuart, Playwright, April 2006
www.rachelcorrie.org
"Deeply, authentically human. If Rachel's Corrie's views provoke emotions and inspire debate, isn't that part of the purpose of art?" – USA Today
"Heartbreaking urgency. An invigorating detailed portrait of a passionate idealist. Rachel Corrie had a voice that was emphatically her own. There's a redeeming grit in her writing and a feeling of energy that could burn. Her sense of the world gone so awry that it forces her to question her 'fundamental belief in the goodness of human nature' is sure to strike sadly familiar chords." – The New York Times
"Here is a play where the real dialogue begins when the curtain comes down. Rachel Corrie was a powerful writer – charming, quirky, funny – and given to painting strong images in a memorable voice. Artfully adapted by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner. My Name is Rachel Corrie is theater that not only stirs our hearts but sticks in our heads" – Newsweek
Bareboards Productions and B Sharp present
My Name is Rachel Corrie
The writings of Rachel Corrie
Edited by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner
Directed by Shannon Murphy
Companion Artist Wesley Enoch
Designer Andy McDonell
Lighting Designer Matt Schubach
With Belinda Bromilow
Venue: Belvoir St Downstairs Theatre, 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills
Preview: 14 May 2008
Season: 14 May – 8 June 2008. No show Thurs 5 June
Times: Tues 7pm, Wed-Sat 8.15pm, Sun 5.15pm
Tickets: $29/$23 (Preview $20, Cheap Tues Pay-what-you-can min $10)
Bookings: 9699 3444 or www.belvoir.com.au
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