Left - Belinda Bromilow. Photo - Heidrun LohrAnger inducing. Debate demanding. Cud to chew.
My Name is Rachel Corrie was a profoundly moving piece of theatre even for someone who does the usual rounds on a Friday night. Originally shown at Belvoir Street Theatre last year, this year it was moved to the smaller and more intimate Seymour Centre. Admittedly I had not seen the show at its original venue but the tight proximity of audience member to audience member as well as the raw emotional intensity with which the monologue of the single performer presented to us made this one of the better Sydney shows I've seen this year.
The Israel Palestine conflict is never going to be an easy issue to discuss, let alone stage. The story follows that of Rachel Corrie (Belinda Bromilow), a Washington DC, all-American girl with two Harvard business and law graduate siblings, who chooses a different life - that of "being a writer" - but without the usual red wine and follies amongst the gardens in Oxford or Cambridge. Instead, she chooses to take, well, not what one would purport to be a light jaunt off to the settlements in Palestine to work in a charitable capacity before she is mowed down by a tank.
Bleak? Quite.
Although the play doesn't give an overly realistic sense of hope for the world (instead deciding to end with footage of Ms Corrie's childhood idealism for 'ending world hunger'), pragmatism is not the overriding point of the play. Instead it seems that the accounts drawn directly from Ms Corrie's diary attempt to create a debate around the very issue of the two-state solution itself. Obviously sympathising to the Palestinian side, it seemed as though a discussion of the historical context of Israel was lacking, with construction of the script imbuing the story with presumption of prior knowledge of the debate.
An interesting take to the story - interesting being a word that covers many sins, indeed - but one of the most affecting and memorable nights in Sydney's theatres for quite a while.
The Seymour Centre presents BITE and Bareboards Production of
My Name is Rachel Corrie
From the writings of Rachel Corrie edited by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner
Director Shannon Murphy
Venue: Seymour Theatre | Centre Cnr Cleveland St & City Rd
Dates: 27 May – 20 June 2009
Times: Tuesday 6.30pm; Wednesday - Saturday 8pm; Matinee Wednesday 11.30am
Tickets: Adult $34; Concession $25; Tight Arse Tuesdays $20; School Groups $19
Bookings: 02 9351 7940 or www.seymourcentre.com.au
