Play About Demonstrator's Death Is Delayed [Rachel Corrie]

New York Times ^ | February 28, 2006 | JESSE McKINLEY

[West Coast Conservative]

A potential Off Broadway production of "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," an acclaimed solo show about an American demonstrator killed by an Israeli bulldozer while trying to stop the destruction of a Palestinian home, has been postponed because of concerns about the show's political content.

The production, a hit at the Royal Court Theater in London last year, had been tentatively scheduled to start performances at the New York Theater Workshop in the East Village on March 22. But yesterday, James C. Nicola, the artistic director of the workshop, said he had decided to postpone the show after polling local Jewish religious and community leaders as to their feelings about the work.

"The uniform answer we got was that the fantasy that we could present the work of this writer simply as a work of art without appearing to take a position was just that, a fantasy," he said.

In particular, the recent electoral upset by Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, and the sickness of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, had made "this community very defensive and very edgy," Mr. Nicola said, "and that seemed reasonable to me."

The play, which received strong reviews in London, follows the story of Rachel Corrie, an idealistic American demonstrator and Palestinian-rights activist who was crushed to death in March 2003 in the Gaza Strip.

The play was written by the actor Alan Rickman, who directed the piece, and Katherine Viner, a journalist at The Guardian newspaper in London, who pieced together snippets of Ms. Corrie's journals and e-mail messages to create the script. And while the show had not been formally announced, Ms. Viner said yesterday that she and Mr. Rickman had already bought plane tickets to see the production at the workshop.

[Shermy]

"If they want to present it as a fantasy"

Another fantasy is the reason why the play was pulled. pulled because some hypothetical persons would be offended? A play in New York? I think they feared the ridicule New Yorkers would pour onto the St. Rachel story.

[Alouette]

FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel/Russian Jewry ping list.

Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.

[bigfootbob]

Look at the little boy wearing the white shirt & brown jacket behind the flattened terrorist sympathizer, he has that WTF is wrong with this kook look on his face. Actually, everyone in the picture looks puzzled, except Flatty.

[Slings and Arrows]

[Nachum]

Alan Rickman plays the slimeball Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies.

Seems he was typecast.

[N. Theknow]

A major performance!

A Flat Major to be specific.

[jazusamo]

Yep.....Raised in Olympia, WA and went to Evergreen State College. Liberal LaLa land.

[nightdriver]

Alan Rickman has always played the "heavy."

Guess it's true in real life, too.

[Sabramerican]

A play about a Blond American Gentile who died in Israel?

Anyone ever write a play about 14 year old Abigail Litle?

[Kenton]

"My Name Is Rachel Corrie"

[manglor]

Rent a bulldozer or a steamroller and park it outside the theatre on opening night.

[Slings and Arrows]

Wow, that's realistic! I had about three pounds of pressure on a five-pound "abuse" button before I checked the URL.

[ariamne]

HAHA! It was still funny!

[Kenton]

Sorry, didn't really mean to gross everybody out, just showing disrespect where it is due...

[Doc Savage]

Always one of my favorite threads! Love those pancake jokes!

[lwd]

**** - "Smashing" raves JESSE McKINLEY of the NY Times

[Bean Counter]

The Life and Times of Flat Rachel...

[reagan_fanatic]

[Slings and Arrows]

No need to apologize to me, and as far as disrespcting Ol' Treadgrease...

[rang1995]

bulldoze the theater,during a performance