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October 17, 2006
The controversy behind "My Name is Rachel Corrie"
We wrote about the attempt this spring to bring this polemical monologue to New York, from its wildly popular run in London. The American producer got cold feet, the British producers claimed that the arts community version of the Israel lobby was unofficially censoring their production. Katherine Viner (UK) and James Nicola (US) faced off on Amy Goodman's Democracy Now radio show, in March.
Nicola was spooked by the negative reaction of his seemingly anti-Zionist lefty Jewish friends. Reading between the lines (and he has been very cagey in his public pronouncements), it is possible that he decided the play was too polemical once he was presented with other information about Corrie and ISM. He said that the subject was already so politicized that simply presenting Corrie's words would, paradoxically, make it more difficult to hear her on her own terms. He advocated for more "contextualizing," via program notes or post-show discussion groups.
Viner would have none of this. The play was about Rachel Corrie, only her words, whatever else Nicola had been told about Corrie was lies (especially from the Internet!), any attempt at "contextualizing" was bowing to Jewish pressure and censorship. She claimed Nicola had committed to producing the play, Nicola claimed the agreement was tentative. Meanwhile eminent personages of the British theater circulated a letter shaming the NY Theater Workshop. From Amy Goodman's show:
There's a letter today in The New York Times. It's written by Harold Pinter, who is the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, Gillian Slovo. Stephen Fry, and it's dated March 20. The letter was signed by 18 others, and it says, “We are Jewish writers who supported the Royal Court production of My Name Is Rachel Corrie. We are dismayed by the decision of the New York Theatre Workshop to cancel or postpone the play's production. We believe that this is an important play, particularly, perhaps, for an American audience that too rarely has an opportunity to see and judge for itself the material it contends with.“In London it played to sell-out houses. Critics praised it. Audiences found it intensely moving. So 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 New York audiences must be protected from?”
The letter goes on to say, “The various reasons given by the workshop — Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's coma, the election of Hamas, the circumstances of Rachel Corrie's death, the ‘symbolism’ of her tale — make no sense in the context of this play and the crucial issues it raises about Israeli military activity in the Occupied Territories.”
And the final line of the letter says, “Rachel Corrie gave her life standing up against injustice. A theater with such a fine history should have had the courage to give New York theatergoers the chance to experience her story for themselves.” Signed Gillian Slovo, Harold Pinter, Stephen Fry, London, March 20, 2006. Harold Pinter this year won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
(Add Tony Kushner, predictably, on this side of the pond. Of course it's Jewish writers, most of whom don't give Judaism a single thought unless they need to use the identity to criticize other Jews.)
Viner played the "Israel lobby" card, which allows her to characterize any attempt to show all sides of an issue, or to correct misinformation and libel, as "bowing to Jewish pressure." Current reviews refer to the accusation, which keeps it alive, but most don't buy into it.
However, Pam Pariseau and Dena Hammerstein, who took on the US production after NYTW bowed out, seem to have won the battle for "contextualizing," but placing Corrie's story within the larger controversy of the Middle East is pointless the way they are doing it, since they have stacked the deck considerably in their "panels" and "study guide."
UPDATE: Email from a friend:
Hi, Judith,I was dismayed and somewhat surprised to see Stephen Fry signed the letter supporting the St. Pancake play. He is a good friend of Salman Rushdie's, fatwah victim AND signer of the Euston Manifesto. You'd think Salman would've been able to drum some sense into Fry's noggin.
Also, Fry, according to his autobiography, has several relatives in Israel. Another elitist anti-Zionist Jew, I guess. I will never understand them. Damn. (I'm a fan of his work; he's so funny. Hate to see him associated with this BILGE.)
Judith | 10/17/06 at 07:34 PM | Categories: - Useful idiots
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Comments
Wow, Judith. Incredible work and great write up. I admire your fortitude, your ability to hold your head up and stomach the B.S.
davesax | November 16, 2006 08:54 PM
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