Though comments publicly solicited for and against "were running 85 percent for doing the play, 15 percent against", Plantation's Mosaic Theatre in South Florida has cancelled a planned run of the play My Name is Rachel Corrie. South Florida now joins New York and Toronto as locals that have had theaters cave to pressure not to permit audiences to see an unflattering portrayal of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
"I've been astonished at the attacks on me as a Jew'', said Mosaic's artistic director Richard Jay Simon.
More after the fold.
Actress Mindy Woodhead, who was to have portrayed Corrie at Mosaic, is grieving both the loss of a powerful role and the opportunity for connection with audiences.
''It was very shocking; it feels like the death of a creative child . . . It makes me sad that fear of the unknown is such a motivating factor,'' said Woodhead who, like Corrie, is trying to make a difference in the world via two years of Peace Corps service in Morocco starting in September. ``It demonstrated to me how little I knew about the political implications of a production in southeast Florida.''
Rachel Corrie was an American peace activist allegedly murdered according to the sworn affidavits of multiple eyewitnesses by the operator of an IDF bulldozer demolishing homes in Rafah in 2003. To this date, contrary to standard procedure, no United States investigation of the alleged murder has ever been conducted, despite the ongoing pleas of her family. Media stories and cultural events in North America that might portray Israel in an unflattering light vis-a-vis its ongoing occupation of Palestine remain a controversial and largely verboten aspect of American life.
The play, written by Katherine Viner and Alan Rickman, a hit in London and damned with faint praise in New York when it was finally shown, has recently met with success in Seattle where it has had its run extended.
Rachel Corrie interviewed before her death:
By Near Vanna
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