This is the one-woman portrayal of a real-life tragedy: how a young American peace activist died tried trying to help the beleagered Palestinians. The drama traces the personal journey which took Rachel to Palestine, and ultimately to her brutal end under an Israeli bulldozer. A bleak rubble-filled urban backdrop, coupled with the sinister sound of artillery in the background combine to maintain the tension throughout this moving and harrowing play.

It is a considerable feat for one actress to carry the whole drama so convincingly, although it must be said that the play was simply too long for some people. Although moved to tears at points, my sympathy with the main character began to evaporate during what felt like the endless diatribe at the end. The writer is passionate and understandably angry, but the length of the show (90 minutes) diluted the power of the message.

My Name is Rachel Corrie
Pleasance Courtyard

Gaye Belle

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 9th, 2006 at 9:44 pm and is filed under Theatre Reviews 2006. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.