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My Name Is Rachel Corrie

Purple Bench Productions brings My Name Is Rachel Corrie to the Chicago stage. Edited by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner, this moving play is a one-woman show adapted entirely from Rachel Corrie’s emails, letters and journal entries.

ABOUT THE PLAY:A young, idealistic college student and peace activist, Rachel Corrie traveled to Gaza in 2003 to protest the violence between Israel and Palestine. Working with the International Solidarity Movement, she acted as a human shield in efforts to protect Palestinian homes from Israeli bulldozers. Only a few months into her work in the region, Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer razing a Palestinian home. The situation surrounding her death was immediately controversial—was Rachel a naïve political pawn, or was she a brave activist who died for the cause of helping other people?

The play celebrates Corrie’s passionate drive to help people and change the world by providing a window into her ideals, relationships and experiences in times of war and peace. In 2005, My Name is Rachel Corrie opened to rave reviews in London. Set for a New York premiere in 2006, the play met with controversy when the New York Theater Workshop indefinitely postponed its production due to mounting concerns about the play’s content.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION:Purple Bench Productions is excited and honored to produce this Chicago premiere, directed by Emmy Kreilkamp and assisted by Matthew Zaradich. The one-woman production stars Chicago actress Jessie Fisher, a recent graduate of the School at Steppenwolf and a teaching artist for Lookingglass, Writers’ Theater and the Actors Gymnasium.

WHEN: Currently running. Playing Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Closes October 5, 2008.

WHERE: The Artistic Home - 3914 N. Clark Street - Chicago, IL

TICKETS: $20. Purchase them online at www.purplebenchproductions.com. For more information on Rachel Corrie, please visit the Rachel Corrie Foundation.

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