Stage tribute to fallen activist

“My Name is Rachel Corrie” - a controversial play based on the words, journals, and emails of an American peace activist who was crushed to death nearly six years ago by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza- is playing this week at The Arts Project.

After opening to rave reviews and sold out audiences at the Royal Court in London, England in 2005, the play went on to tour the world and has finally made its way here to London, Ontario.

Directed by Dariusz Korbiel and starring Laura Burns as Rachel Corrie, the 90-minute production depicts Rachel's experiences, and the passion for a better world, that led her to leave her home in Olympia, Washington, to travel to the Gaza Strip, to discover for herself the human impact of American foreign policy. While in Gaza, Rachel volunteered for the International Solidarity Movement, and was attempting to prevent an Israeli Army bulldozer from demolishing the home of a Palestinian doctor, when she was murdered on March 16, 2003. Multiple witnesses testified that the driver of the Israeli army bulldozer could clearly see her and intentionally ran her over.

Rachel Corrie lived in Gaza for nearly two months before she was killed and wrote many emails documenting her experiences and urging her friends and supporters to join her there. In one of her last emails to her parents she said that she was “looking forward to seeing more and more people willing to resist the direction the world is moving in, a direction where our personal experiences are irrelevant, that we are defective, that our communities are not important, that we are powerless, that our future is determined, and that the highest level of humanity is expressed through what we choose to buy at the mall.”

The bulldozer that ran her over may have killed her, but her dreams, her passion, and her words will never die. Corrie lives on in the hearts of all who struggle for a better world and peace in Palestine, and with this play her voice is now amplified more than when she held her megaphone.

“My name is Rachel Corrie” plays from January 15 to January 24 at the Arts Project (302 Dundas St.) showtime is 8 pm. Call 519-642-2767 to reserve tickets.