 action & events Montreal: "The Words about the Words" Play Optative Theatre Laboratories in Montreal wrote a play about the New York Theater Workshop/"My Name is Rachel Corrie" play controversy. The Words About The Words uses the public statements of people who had commented, delivering them as if they were all characters in the same room. I found out I was a character in the play when someone forwarded the script to me. E-mails I sent to the NYTW and publicly distributed had been incorporated into the play, which was bizarre on a whole new level! The embedded video below includes footage of the character playing Nigel Parry. The transcript of the play follows. Rachel’s Words Montreal – March 16th, 2006 The Words About The Words Characters (in order of appearance): thefileroom.org Julian Borger, The Guardian James Nicola, Artistic Director, New York Theatre Workshop Alan Rickman Harold Pinter Jason Grote Caridad Svich, resident playwright, New Dramatists, NYC founder, NoPassport Vanessa Redgrave Heywood Floyd, Babbler alias, rabble.ca Mr. Magoo, Babbler alias, rabble.ca Kurt Schneiderman, Subversive Theatre Collective, Buffalo, NY Royal Court Theatre Nigel Parry, freelance journalist Alan Schrier, press contact for NYTW Maysoon Zayid, Palestinian-American Comedienne Katharine Viner, The Guardian Theaters Against War Zohar Tirosh The Rachel Corrie Foundation for peace and justice Jen Marlowe and Ann Petter, rachelswords.org LH Andrea Liu, THAW Bob Lamm Cynthia Croot Edward Rothstein, New York Times Palestine Media Watch Chris McGreal, The Guardian CNN The audience enters the café and seats themselves facing a bare stage with a bench in the background and a table at the SL side. A microphone is DSC. The project is introduced to the audience at the appropriate time, and told about the background of the story and the viral global theatre event to get the words heard. It is mentioned that all proceeds go to the Rachel Corrie Fund for Peace and Justice, and that there will be a talkback session after the performance. Several actors seat themselves on the bench. When the performance begins, the actor in charge of the character puts on a costume piece, pair of Optative glasses, or some such V-Effect tool. The action should be swift. In Brecht’s actor/demonstrator technique, * highlighted character titles should be announced by the actor prior to assuming the role. The Fileroom.org: Censorship: Censorship is a word of many meanings. In its broadest sense it refers to suppression of information, ideas, or artistic expression by anyone, whether government officials, church authorities, private pressure groups, or speakers, writers, and artists themselves. It may take place at any point in time, whether before an utterance occurs, prior to its widespread circulation, or by punishment of communicators after dissemination of their messages, so as to deter others from like expression… Julian Borger, The Guardian: A New York theatre company has put off plans to stage a play about an American activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza because of the current "political climate" - a decision the play's British director, Alan Rickman, denounced yesterday as "censorship". James Nicola, the artistic director of the New York Theatre Workshop, said it had never formally announced it would be staging the play, My Name is Rachel Corrie, but it had been considering staging it in March. James Nicola, NYTW: In our pre-production planning and our talking around and listening in our communities in New York, what we heard was that after Ariel Sharon's illness and the election of Hamas, we had a very edgy situation Borger: Mr. Nicola said Nicola: We found that our plan to present a work of art would be seen as us taking a stand in a political conflict that we didn't want to take. Borger: He said he had suggested a postponement until next year. Mr Rickman, best known for his film acting roles in Love, Actually and the Harry Potter series and who directed the play at London's Royal Court Theatre, denounced the decision. Alan Rickman: I can only guess at the pressures of funding an independent theatre company in New York, but calling this production "postponed" does not disguise the fact that it has been cancelled Borger: Mr. Rickman said in a statement. Rickman: This is censorship born out of fear, and the New York Theatre Workshop, the Royal Court, New York audiences - all of us are the losers. Borger: Rachel Corrie was a 23-year-old activist from Washington state crushed in March 2003 when she put herself between an Israeli army bulldozer and a Palestinian home it was about to demolish in Rafah, on the Egyptian border. The International Solidarity Movement, of which she was a member, claimed the bulldozer driver ran her over deliberately. The Israeli Defence Forces said it was an accident, and that she was killed by falling debris. The Israeli government said the demolitions were aimed at creating a "security zone" along the border. The Palestinians say they are a form of collective punishment. Rickman: Rachel Corrie lived in nobody's pocket but her own. Whether one is sympathetic with her or not, her voice is like a clarion in the fog and should be heard Borger: Mr. Rickman said. My Name is Rachel Corrie consists of her diary entries and emails home, edited by Mr. Rickman and Katharine Viner, features editor of The Guardian. It won the best new play prize at this year's Theatregoers' Choice Awards in London. Harold Pinter, Playwright, 2005 Nobel Prize Winner in Literature: …I'm alarmed at what has happened to My Name Is Rachel Corrie in New York…I think, typical of what is happening more and more in Britain and America: suppression of dissent and the truth. I'd just point to the example of the prohibition of protest within a certain area outside the Houses of Parliament. One woman walked into this zone and read out the names of British soldiers killed in Iraq of whom at that time there were about 80. She was arrested, fined and now has a criminal record. What she was actually doing, in reading the names of the British dead outside the Houses of Parliament, was reminding people in Parliament of their ultimate responsibility. So the lid was put on her straight away. Jason Grote: The long and the short of it is that it's appalling. Caridad Svich (resident playwright, New Dramatists, NYC founder, NoPassport): At a time when a climate of fear is insidiously embedded in our culture, it is deeply troubling to witness one of NYC's most adventurous and progressive theatres succumbing to this culture through the postponement of a play that examines the Palestinian side of the Middle East situation through Anglo eyes. Vanessa Redgrave: This is censorship of the worst kind. More awful even than that. It is black-listing a dead girl and her diaries. A very brave and exceptional girl who all citizens, whatever their faith or nationality, should be proud and grateful for her existence. They couldn’t silence her voice while she lived, so she was killed. Her voice began to speak again as Alan Rickman read her diaries, and Megan Dodds became Rachel Corrie. Now the New York Theatre Workshop have silenced that dear voice. I shall never forget the glimpse, at the close of Alan Rickman's production, of Rachel when 10 years old, shot on a little family movie camera, making her speech about world poverty and the urgent need to end the misery. The New York Theatre Workshop have silenced that little girl, as well as the girl who confronted the Israeli army Caterpillar bulldozer. Heywood Floyd, Babbler alias, Rabble.ca: What censorship? Censorship is traditionally the sole purvue of the state. This is nothing more than a theater canceling a show, all the protests to the contrary notwithstanding. Mr. Magoo, Babbler alias, Rabble.ca: In this case, the best analogy would be the stores themselves choosing not to sell certain magazines. Is that "censorship" of those magazines?? If not, then a theatre choosing not to present a play isn't either. If so, I guess my local variety store will be obligated to sell about 10,000 different magazines. The Fileroom.org: In its narrower, more legalistic sense, censorship means only the prevention by official government action of the circulation of messages already produced. Kurt Schneiderman, Subversive Theatre Collective, Buffalo, NY: In modern-day society, censorship rarely takes the good old fashion form of a government agency declaring something illegal. Nowadays, censorship, primarily comes in the form of private institutions who decide they can't bear the financial, social, or political repercussions of doing what they know is right. When institutions (of any kind) start to fall victim to this mentality, the heads of these organizations need to be held accountable, they need to hear some encouragement, they need to hear some lecturing, and -- yes -- they need to hear some disappointment and some expression of outrage. Nicola, on the NYTW website: New York Theatre Workshop did not cancel or censor “My Name is Rachel Corrie” and we are saddened by these charges. With a schedule largely driven by director Alan Rickman’s pre-existing film commitments, we had less than two months to consider mounting the production. In even attempting this unusually short timeline, this theatre distinguished itself from most others. When we found that there was a very strong possibility that a number of factions, on all sides of a political conflict, would use the play as a platform to promote their own agendas, we asked a rather routine question, or so we thought, to our London colleagues about altering the time frame. Our intent in asking for the postponement was to allow us enough time to contextualize the work so Rachel Corrie’s powerful voice could best be heard above the din of others shouting for their own purposes. We were never for a second concerned about the response from people who actually sat in the theater and experienced the work. Our commitment to “My Name is Rachel Corrie” has never wavered. To have our request for more time blown into a screed about censorship is quite stunning. Royal Court Theatre: From the Royal Court We have been surprised to read recent assertions made by James Nicola, Artistic Director of the New York Theatre Workshop, surrounding the run of MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE which had been scheduled to play there in March, April and May 2006. There are many factual inaccuracies which we would like to address… Nigel Parry, freelance journalist: Alan Schrier, you are listed as a media contact at the New York Theater Workshop. This is a media inquiry from a freelancer. If it was merely a "request for more time", then why is Nicola quoted in the New York Times as saying… Nicola: I think we were more worried that those who had never encountered her writing, never encountered the piece, would be using this as an opportunity to position their arguments. The uniform answer we got [after polling local Jewish religious and community leaders] was that the fantasy that we could present the work of this writer simply as a work of art without appearing to take a position was just that, a fantasy, In particular, the recent electoral upset by Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, and the sickness of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, had made "this community very defensive and very edgy.” And that seemed reasonable to me. Parry: What is found on your webpage is then basically a lie, because it denies the reasons already given by Nicola, on public record, for the play's cancellation. My questions are very simple: 1. How do you reconcile the statements in the Guardian and New York Times with the one on the front of your website? They appear entirely contradictory by any reasonable reading. 2. Surely the Theater understands that canceling a play about an event in a conflict on the advice of parties sympathetic to one of the sides in the conflict is in itself a political act? I would appreciate a speedy response for deadline. Alan Schrier: Who do you work for? Parry: Freelancers don't work for anyone in particular. I will be shopping the piece around. Schrier: From the website for New York Theatre Workshop, www.nytw.org (nudges Nicola) Nicola: New York Theatre Workshop did not cancel or censor “My Name is Rachel Corrie” and we are saddened by these charges. With a schedule largely driven... Parry: I've already seen that, and my questions to you were specifically related to the disparity between what Nicola is on record as saying in publications such as the New York Times, which fact checks all quotes with their sources, and what is contained in the statement. If the statement is to be the NYTW's final comment on the matter, please confirm this and I will move on. Schrier: (leaves or turns his back) Maysoon Zayid, Palestinian-American Comedienne Who produces a play according to opinion polls? I mean, what’s that? How many other plays have they polled? An American woman wrote the play. Who else has to be polled before we can hear her voice? The Fileroom.org: There are almost as many justifications offered for the suppression of communication as there are would-be censors, but at root the motivation is always the same. It is a fear that the expression, if not curtailed, will do harm to individuals in its audience, or to society as a whole. Katharine Viner, The Guardian: The flights for cast and crew had been booked; the production schedule delivered; the press announcement drafted and approved; tickets advertised on the internet. The Royal Court production of My Name Is Rachel Corrie, the play I co-edited with Alan Rickman, was transferring next month to the New York Theatre Workshop, home of the groundbreaking musical Rent, following two sellout runs in London and several awards. We always thought that it was a piece of work that needed to be seen in the US. After all, she had made her journey to the Middle East in order "to meet the people who are on the receiving end of our [American] tax dollars", and she was a killed by a US-made bulldozer. It makes you wonder. If a young, middle-class, scrupulously fair- minded, and dead, American woman, whose superb writing about her job as a mental health worker, ex-boyfriends, troublesome parents, struggle to find out who she wanted to be, and how she found that by travelling to Gaza and discovering the shocking conditions under which the Palestinians live - if a voice like this cannot be heard on a New York stage, what hope is there for anyone else? The non- American, the non-white, the non-dead, the oppressed? Theaters Against War: THAW is an international network of theater artists responding to the United States' ongoing "War on Terror," aggressive and unilateral foreign policies, and escalating attacks on civil liberties in the US and throughout the world. Zohar Tirosh: As my THAW friends know I'm and Israeli-American playwright and actress. I have also served in the Israeli army. Rachel's words deal with suffering, unimaginable, horrific suffering; and it is exactly now, during these days of uncertainty and transition that the world needs to be reminded of horrific unjust acts and that there are people living in unfathomable realities of occupation and war caused by misled if not sinful policies and leaders. Rachel's’ powerful words and actions must be heard now. As the world grows number and dumber about cruelty, evil and injustice, we need to be reminded that there are people who choose to, not only leave their comfortable homes and lives but also are willing to witness these harsh realities and put their lives in danger while making a clear argument for peace. By this i don't mean to take away from any other suffering. Having been there, I can tell you, that though different as night and day, Israeli suffering is real and tangible and fraught with nightmarish history. But Rachel's words are incredibly fair and honest and effective and beautiful and urgent. Extremely urgent. I'd like to support this in any way I can. Jason Grote: All you have to add is your name. Affiliations are optional. Petition Online requires that you enter your email address as a way of determining whether you're real, but if you choose to keep it private no one, including me, will see your email address. Please forward this to everyone you have ever met. Dear Mr. Nicola, We, the undersigned, write you in the spirit of friendship and collegiality regarding your recent decision to postpone New York Theater Workshop’s production of My Name is Rachel Corrie by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner. We are heartened to hear of your continued commitment to the play and we urge you to continue with production as soon as possible. The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice: We want to honor the life, spirit and words of Rachel with an informal and personal reading from both the play and related writings. Jen Marlowe and Ann Petter, rachelswords.org: But in addition to that, we'd like to call a nationwide (or bigger) action on March 16th, the third anniversary of Rachel's death. Jason Grote: We believe that, in many cases, art is inseparable from politics, and we respectfully ask that you continue in the tradition of courage that NYTW has established—and find the strength to continue with My Name is Rachel Corrie. The price of not raising these issues is infinitely greater than the price of raising them. Despite any of our best intentions, your decision on this play will send a powerful signal to artists and arts institutions alike, both about the mission and integrity of your theater and about the acceptable boundaries of conversation on this or any topic. Mr. Nicola, when you say that you are committed to My Name Is Rachel Corrie, we intend to take you at your word—and hold you to it… We will be watching to see what you do in the coming days and months. You have an opportunity to make an historic decision. We urge you to come down on the side of peace, justice, and open discussion. HeywoodFloyd: Could it be that what you consider a thoughtful production James C. Nicola considers needlessly provocative? One man's science is another man's religion and all that. Mr. Magoo: If this play were not grinding anyone's favourite axe, nobody would be getting up on any lofty soapboxes to discuss its "censorship". LH: I am against any form of censorship, but this seems to be more a case of opportunism and pushing a personal agenda. Jason Grote: Who, exactly has "adopted this for their own political agenda?" The whole thing was political from the start. that sounds like utter nonsense to me. Andrea Liu, THAW: As an activist, one is (usually) not embedded in the structures of power, one is working outside of them, reacting to them, and reacting against what they do. So yes, if something happens that is against the principles an activist seeks to uphold, it would be natural then for them to take that opportunity to make one’s voice heard. Why is that opportunistic? Bob Lamm: So all of us can criticize James Nicola and NYTW, but we can't criticize Jason Grote or those who criticize James Nicola? Jason Grote and others wrote and are signing a public statement that they believe in. That's their right and I respect them for speaking out. But it's equally the right of…anyone else to criticize a public statement and say that we find the language of the petition "insulting." Mr. Magoo: Indeed. Any time someone doesn't get the soapbox that they feel they're entitled to, it's "censorship". Cynthia Croot, Theaters Against War: My dearest folks, we are all meeting here in some solidarity... please respect that. please don't flame. there is a real lack of respect in any email that can be characterized as a tirade, or has the sort of accusatory tone i've seen cropping up. Let's just not do that, ok? It's not good nettiquete, and it's painful to read. It's already enough of a challenge to be an artist on this planet in these times. let's not attack one another. let's work on keeping this tiny community of ours intact. (THE TONE ESCALATES AS CHARACTERS START TALKING ALMOST ON TOP OF ONE AND OTHER) Edward Rothstein, New York Times: Think of what might have happened had the theater actually presented the play later this month, fresh from its sold-out success at the Royal Court Theater in London. Then the controversy might have been over other forms of political blindness. There might have been assertions that the company was glorifying the mock-heroics of a naïf… Palestine Media Watch: Rachel was killed while using nonviolence to stand against a clear injustice and widely recognized violation of international law. If using nonviolence to support international law made Rachel “radical “ and “naïve”, then the world needs more naïve, radical people. Rothstein: …who tried to block efforts to cut off terrorist weapon smuggling. Palestine Media Watch: Rachel Corrie died defending the home of a Palestinian family whom she knew well - Palestinian pharmacist, Samir Nasrallah, his wife and children. There was no tunnel in the Nasrallah home, and the Israeli army never asserted that there was a tunnel in the Nasrallah home. Nonetheless, the Nasrallah home, like thousands of others, was eventually demolished by the Israeli army. Rothstein: Donors might have pulled away. And the New York Theater Workshop might have been accused of feeding the propagandistic maw of Hamas… Palestine Media Watch: Hamas’ victory in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in 2006 should not be twisted to serve as a rationale for “postponing” a play about an American activist killed in Rafah in 2003. Rothstein: …,just as it came into power in the Palestinian territories. Is it any wonder the company got jittery? Then there is much discussion of censorship and freedom of speech. And throughout, intermittent fear of giving offense mixes with frequent eagerness to give it; there is name calling and, occasionally, nervous back-pedaling. Of course, there are some important distinctions in this case: the postponement was not in response to riots but to worry over what might happen to the theater's reputation or to donors' enthusiasm. The Fileroom.org: In societies whose values have not been fully accepted by their people or whose leadership rests on shaky foundations, the heaviest hand of censorship has fallen. Chris McGreal, The Guardian: Wednesday, March 19th, 2003 - Israeli forces fired teargas and stun grenades yesterday in an attempt to break up a memorial service for Rachel Corrie, the American peace activist killed by an army bulldozer in Gaza on Sunday. Witnesses including several dozen foreigners and Palestinian supporters say Israeli armoured vehicles tried to disperse the gathering at the spot in Rafah refugee camp where Ms. Corrie was crushed to death. (THE WORDS BECOME MORE RAPID-FIRE, CREATING A CACAPHONY OF SOUND) Jason Grote: I'm honestly not sure what everyone is pushing for here. As a point of order, can I request more specificity? Do people want no mention of NYTW, to directly attack NYTW, to de-link any celebration of Rachel Corrie's life from the issue of the play? As I see it, there are two issues here: people wanting to sweep uncomfortable conversations under the rug, *and* those same people (more or less) exerting pressure on arts institutions, and the eventual costs of that. One could say that NYTW are great and getting a bad rap for this, or one could say that NYTW have always been corporate sellouts, but the fact is that this is setting a bad, bad precedent. If nothing else, the outcry over their decision to pull the play - and the momentum that it's given the Code Pink people who were already working on the Rachel Corrie stuff - sends the message that there is more than one constituency out there that is willing and able to make noise. Who, exactly has "adopted this for their own political agenda?" The whole thing was political from the start. that sounds like utter nonsense to me. Rothstein: To understand this a little better, consider the play itself. At first, it must have seemed a safe choice. Safe with its aura of leftist frisson, and safe too in that its championing of a pro- Palestinian activist had become so mainstream that the London press hardly recognized anything was at issue. CNN Reporter: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 - A member of the solidarity group, who identified herself as Alice from London, said she and Corrie had sat for about three hours in front of houses belonging to their friends. The driver of the bulldozer must have seen them, she said, but drove over Corrie anyway. She emerged from under the bulldozer saying, "My back is broken, my back is broken," Alice told CNN. Tom Dale, who said he was about 10 yards from Corrie, said she was in plain view and was wearing an orange jacket. As the bulldozer lifted a pile of earth, it moved forward and caught Corrie under its blade, he said. Rothstein: When the directors of the New York Theater Workshop began to hear from staff members and outsiders that the play invoked issues it did not explain, and when the election of Hamas provided proof that all was not simple, perhaps that was when the play became more clearly understood. CNN Reporter: "This is a very regrettable incident," an Israeli military source said. "This is a group of protesters who are acting very irresponsibly. They are putting everyone in danger, the Palestinians, themselves, our forces, by intentionally placing themselves in a combat zone. We are checking the details of the incident and believe it to be a very regrettable incident." Chris McGreal, The Guardian: Joe Smith, a young activist from Kansas City, said about 100 people were gathered to lay carnations and erect a small memorial when the first armoured personnel carrier appeared. "They started firing teargas and blowing smoke, then they fired sound grenades. After a while it got hectic so we sat down. Then the tank came over and shot in the air," he said. "It scared a lot of Palestinians, especially the shooting made a lot of them run and the teargas freaked people out. But most of us stayed." (Words from throughout the play are repeated and join the fray. All conversations continue escalating until everyone is talking on top of everyone else. As the words die down, the last character before Rachel Corrie speaks.) Vanessa Redgrave: If this cancellation is not transformed into a new production, somewhere in New York, immediately, we would be complicit, all of us, in a catastrophe that must not be allowed to take place. (The other words are totally silent by now.) This play, is not about taking sides. It is about protecting human beings. In this case, Palestinian human beings who have no protection, for their families, their homes or their streets. Rachel Corrie gave her life to protect a family. She didn’t have or use a gun or bomb. She had her huge humanity, and she gave that to save lives. Pause. Actors exit. Pause. Rachel Corrie enters… [ends] 
more from this section  • Action Alert: Stop the Wall offices raided by Israeli military (Tuesday, May 8th, 2012)  • Musicians' Declaration of Support for #OccupyWallStreet (Monday, October 17th, 2011) • Support Independent Reporting: #OccupyWallStreet (Thursday, October 13th, 2011) • Coleen Rowley: We're conflating proper dissent and terrorism (Sunday, January 16th, 2011) • FBI raids of pro-Palestine activist homes in four US states (Friday, September 24th, 2010) • Summer 2010 Appeal (Monday, June 21st, 2010) |
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