My Name is Rachel Corrie at OSU this Week

Learn the story of a young woman whose life was cut short by the Israeli Defense Force.

A service for Rachel Corrie in Palestine.

(CORVALLIS, Ore.) - A play at Oregon State University that begins Wednesday recounts the sacrifice of a young woman from the Northwest, Rachel Corrie, who gave her life trying to protect homes of Palestinian people from an Israeli bulldozer.

The Israeli military Bulldozer

Alan Rickman’s and Katherine Viner’s: My Name is Rachel Corrie, tells the story of this Evergreen State College student in Olympia who went to Gaza because she wanted to help Palestinian people gain more human rights.

A bulldozer manufactured in the U.S. driven by an Israeli soldier was driven over the top of Rachel causing mortal injuries.

Her friends and other witnesses said the dozer operator clearly knew she was standing squarely in front of him with a bullhorn, when he moved the Caterpillar forward, and then kept going.

Organizers of these events say, "Rachel was a vital young woman driven by her need to make a positive difference in the world."

Inspired by her story, and with permission from her family, Rickman and Viner edited Rachel’s diaries, journals, and e-mails to create a fascinating and moving portrait of this dynamic young woman.

USA Today called it, “deeply, authentically human.”

The late Rachel Corrie

Rachel will be portrayed by Elizabeth Helman, director of the 2009 Bard in the Quad’s Twelfth Night and faculty member in Theatre Arts at Oregon State.

The play is directed by Charlotte Headrick and design is by George Caldwell. Cassandra Kornman is the stage manager for the production.

A news release stated, "Due to the design of the Lab Theatre, latecomers cannot be admitted. The play is performed without intermission. Box office opens at 6:15 p.m. on nights of performance and at 1:30 p.m. for the Sunday matinee. This play contains language and situations that are not suitable for young audiences."

There will be free pre-show lectures, listed below, in the Green Room of the theatre at 6:30 p.m. exploring the events that formed some of the background of the play.

Sunday talk begins at 1:00 p.m. There will be post show discussions following each performance. Tickets available at the door & $2 donation suggested for tickets.

If you aren't familiar with Rachel's story, please visit this link to learn more about this brave young woman whose memory will never fade: Remembering Rachel Corrie and Her Mission for Peace - Tim King Salem-News.com

The preshow talks are in Withycombe Hall 62 (the Green Room) and are listed below:

Wednesday, October 21 6:30 p.m.
Theresa May, Theatre Arts, University of Oregon
Radical Theater versus Theater about Radicals:
Thoughts on My Name Is Rachel Corrie

Thursday, October 22 6:30 p.m.
Steve Niva, Government and International Studies, Evergreen State College
Student Activism and Rachel Corrie

Friday, October 23 6:30 p.m.
Smadar Lavie, Anthropology, University of Virginia
Israel, Palestine, and Rachel Corrie

Saturday, October 24 6:30 p.m.
Joel Beinin, History, Stanford University
Historical Context of My Name Is Rachel Corrie

Sunday, October 25 1:00 p.m.
Mr. and Mrs. Corrie (Rachel¹s parents)
Olympia, Washington
Continuing Rachel's Work in the Gaza Strip

Special thanks to Oregon State University for information in this report.

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Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor.
Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), the first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several other awards including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated with Google News and several other major search engines and news aggregators.
You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com