The Silencing of Rachel Corrie
presented by The Wrecking Ball
in association with the Tarragon Spring Arts Fair
Saturday, May 27, 2006
8pm, Tarragon Extra Space
No advance sales. Get there early. PWYC.
Political theatre is back for a one night special presentation: The Silencing of Rachel Corrie, presented by the Wrecking Ball, in association with the Tarragon Theatre’s annual Spring Arts Fair. Bringing the headlines to the stage once again, this not-to-be-missed happening features Sarah Henriques as Rachel Corrie, as well as Michael Spencer Davis, Aaron Willis and Lynn Woodman, and will be directed by Kate Lushington.
23 year old American activist Rachel Corrie has been silenced twice: by her death in March 2003 under the blade of a bulldozer in Gaza, and in March 2006 with the controversial pulling from New York Theatre Workshop of the award-winning British play about her life in her own words, My Name is Rachel Corrie.
Most readers will know the bare facts about Rachel Corrie: that she was a 23-year-old American who went to aid Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and in March 2003 was killed by an Israeli bulldozer. She has been denounced in the Wall Street Journal and considered a tool of Hamas. Her death was a short-lived story in the international press, greeted largely by silence in her homeland. What is unknown to most is her compelling voice as a writer. Two years after her death, My Name is Rachel Corrie premiered at The Royal Court Theatre in London. It is a one-woman show devised by Alan Rickman and Kathleen Viner from Rachel’s childhood journals and e-mails home from the Middle East.
“What is it about Rachel Corrie’s writings, her thoughts, her feelings, her confusions, her idealism, her courage, her search for meaning in life – what is it that audiences must be protected from?” Harold Pinter, March 2006.
The Silencing of Rachel Corrie is NOT to be confused with My Name is Rachel Corrie. However, for one night only, Toronto audiences can hear Rachel’s words and witness a new theatrical reading featuring her e-mails from Gaza and new material released by her parents, interwoven with highlights of the more recent political controversy from luminaries such as Pinter, Tony Kushner, and Alan Rickman. Rachel is still the star of the show, her voice shines on, and her spirit refuses to be silenced.
Read what we’ve already posted about Rachel Corrie.
Learn more about what all of the fuss is about.
BIOS
Kate Lushington most recently directed Your Dream Was Mine by Shirley Cheechoo at Artword Theatre, Toronto and De-ba-jeh-muh-jig Theatre on Manitoulin Island, performed her own piece Griefkit at the Hysteria Festival at Buddies in Bad Times, and wrote and directed Easy Money, an ongoing project with and about injured workers shown at the Mayworks Festival 2005. She spent six seasons as Artistic Director of Nightwood Theatre, and has dramaturged such award winning plays as Harlem Duet and Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God by Djanet Sears. She won a Nellie for her adaptation of Josef Skvorecky’s The Bass Saxophone for CBC Radio and a Mouche D’Or for her first short film, Subway Transfer at the On The Fly festival.
Sarah Henriques’ recent theatre credits include The Clean House (Manitoba Theatre Centre/Vancouver Playhouse), Caryl Churchill’s Far Away (Escape Artists’ Equity Co-op) and the one woman show Dying to be Thin (Manitoba Theatre for Young People). Originally from Vancouver and a graduate of UBC’s Theatre Programme, Sarah is new to Toronto and will next be seen in Theatre & Company’s production of Stephen Massicotte’s A Boy’s Own Jedi Handbook, Part II: The Girls Strike Back.
Michael Spencer-Davis is delighted to be back with The Ball having a year ago been a participant in Twelve Angry Playwrights as well as a reading of Homebody/Kabul and other plays of political import. Recently MSD finished a run of Via Dolorosa – David Hare’s one man show of his trip to Israel and observations of the conflict -for the Winnipeg Jewish Theatre. This summer Michael will be playing Antonio in The Merchant of Venice for the Oakville Festival of Classics.
Aaron Willis’ past credits include: The Piper (Necessary Angel), Well, (Tarragon Theatre), Waiting for Lefty and Awake and Sing (The CO), nod (Theatre Gargantua), The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (Gayety Theatre). He has also appeared in the Summerworks Festival in Excess Unwanted Growth (2003) and Spain (2004). He appeared in The Merchant of Venice last summer with Shakespeare in the Rough, and recently completed touring Wrecked with Roseneath Theatre. Aaron will be producing, directing, and performing in AutoShow at this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival with the convergence theatre collective.
Lynn Woodman has enjoyed parallel careers as an actor and voice, movement and acting teacher for the past 25 years. Selected film and television credits include: Silent Hill, Queer As Folk, Sue Thomas; FBI, Wildcard, Street Time (recurring role), Exhibit A, and True Stories. A narrator for Sprockets International film Festival for Children for 10 years, Lynn’s acting roots started in theatre and she has appeared in theatres across Canada. She is honoured to be a part of bringing Rachel Corrie’s words of compassion for humanity to Toronto.
The Wrecking Ball’s presentation of
The Silencing of Rachel Corrie
in association with the Tarragon Spring Arts Fair
is ONE PERFORMANCE only
Saturday May 27, 2006 at 8:00pm
Tarragon Theatre Extra Space, 30 Brigman Avenue, Toronto
No advance tickets will be sold.
Admission is by donation only (Pay What You Can)
A benefit for the Actor’s Fund of Canada
See you all there!
- 23 05 2006 - 09:43
