My Name is Rachel Corrie
Havana Theatre
Push Festival
January 25 – February 9, 2008
Rachel
Corrie was 23 years old when she was crushed to death by an Israeli
army bulldozer on March 16, 2003. She was working with others trying to
protect the home of a Palestinian pharmacist from demolition in Rafah,
Gaza Strip, Palestine. “My Name is Rachel Corrie” is a powerful
Sometimes we can be pulled so strongly into doing things by our passions. Rachel Corrie was driven by passion to stand in front of Palestinian homes on the Gaza Strip, being threatened by Israeli bulldozers. As an U.S. citizen from Olympia WA, she felt it was her duty to protest the actions of the U.S. government. Unfortunately Rachel was killed by a bulldozer, but called a martyr by Palestine leader Arafat.
Adrienne Wong is playing Rachel Corrie in the Push Festival's “My Name is Rachel Corrie.” Wong was also similarly driven by her passion to play the young activist. Read the article: Hour.ca – Stage – My Name Is Rachel Corrie to learn about Wong's unusual audition for the role.
My Name is Rachel Corrie, is a play composed from Corrie's journals and e-mails from Gaza, written by British actor Alan Rickman. I've checked the blogosphere, and it looks like a real interesting play with controversial themes. Was Corrie being used for Palestinian propaganda? Did the bulldozer driver not see her? Why is it important to to destroy Palestinian homes on the Gaza Strip?
The initial 2005 opening in London, directed by Rickman at the Royal Court Theatre in London, England won the Theatregoers' Choice Awards for Best Director
and Best New Play, as well as Best Solo Performance for actress Megan Dodds. It was subsequently scheduled to open in New York City at New York Theatre Workshop
in March 2006. But due to fear of reactions from Jewish groups, the play was “postponed indefinitely.”
What will Vancouver's Jewish community say about My Name is Rachel Corrie? What will White audiences and critics say about an Asian actor playing a blonde American character? Hopefully, they will all say that both the actor and the play are full of passion. Adrienne is actually Eurasian or Hapa-Canadian, as her mother is French Canadian. Wong already has many ethnic “roles” on her resume. Ethnicity shouldn't be a quality for casting, but sometimes it is.
Adrienne is a committed actor involved on many levels in Vancouver theatrical community. A few years ago she was writer in residence at the Firehall Arts Centre, and I have seen her in lead roles in Golden Child and Gold Mountain Guest. She has also been a past co-host for the 2004 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner event.