To call "My Name Is Rachel Corrie" anything but a tragedy would be a huge disservice to the inspiring young woman of the title.
Rachel Corrie was a real person, and the one-woman play about her recalls the Olympia, Wash., native's brief life and horrendous death through her own words from journals and e-mails. She died March 16, 2003, five weeks shy of her 24th birthday, after being run over by an armored bulldozer operated by Israel Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip.
When we first meet Rachel, she seems much like a typical American high school senior. But through Tygar Hicks' soulful, involving performance, we're drawn into the life and mind of an extraordinary girl. Hicks artlessly unveils a restless, sensitive activist who courageously challenges the world as she knows it. Rachel does more than simply rail against injustice – she gets involved.
The script, edited by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner, depicts an artist as a young woman. Rachel tells us she wants to be a writer, and her detailed observations of the world around her confirms a poet's eye.
We also experience her growing spirit of activism. Here is someone who honestly and passionately lives by her convictions.
Those convictions carry her into the tragedy of the continuing conflict between Palestine and Israel and, ultimately, her own personal tragedy.
Corrie joined the controversial International Solidarity Movement, which asks citizens of the world to participate in nonviolent protest against the Israeli military's actions in West Bank.
Of course, any part of anything related to the Israeli and Palestinian difficulties is open to interpretation, depending on one's political sensibilities. That includes whether the movement is truly an organization seeking nonviolent solutions – or does it incite violence? Are Israel's actions on the West Bank immoral or necessarily defensive?
Rachel Corrie's death is surrounded by these controversies. Even horrific pictures taken at the scene at the time are inconclusive, except for the one irrefutable fact: In life and death, what happened to Rachel Corrie was a tragedy.
Director Karen Nylund presents Corrie's story with little affectation. There is some unnecessary music, and the under-rehearsed lighting was often random, but the tight set worked well in the small space of the ThreePenny Playhouse.
Rickman and Viner's script loses its way near the end, but Hicks' presence keeps the focus of this remarkable young woman.
Call The Bee's Marcus Crowder, (916) 321-1120.
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