Seattle Repertory Theatre Presents My Name is Rachel Corrie

Seattle Repertory Theatre presents:
My Name is Rachel Corrie
by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner
from the writings of Rachel Corrie
directed by Braden Abraham
March 15 – April 22, 2007

Seattle, WA –Seattle Repertory Theatre brings My Name is Rachel Corrie to Rachel’s own home state from March 15 through April 22 in the Leo K. Theatre. The script of My Name is Rachel Corrie comes from the writings of Rachel Corrie — her diary, emails and letters — crafted into a play by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner. The play tells the compelling story of a young woman who grew up in Olympia obsessed with Pat Benatar, social activism and Mountain Dew commercials, and whose convictions take her to the heart of a complex international crisis. Previews begin March 15, with opening night set for March 21. Tickets are available through the Seattle Repertory Theatre box office seven days a week at (206) 443-2222, toll-free at (877) 900-9285, as well as online at www.seattlerep.org.

The Play: Twenty-three year-old Evergreen College graduate (and Olympia, Washington native) Rachel Corrie (played by Marya Sea Kaminski) went to the Gaza Strip to aid Palestinians whose homes were being destroyed in the conflict with Israel. In March of 2003, she was killed by an Israeli bulldozer. Combining an activist’s passion with an artist’s sensibilities, Rachel Corrie was a determined and caring young woman, trying to find a sense of truth and understanding in a very complex situation. This compelling story of a personal political journey is told through Corrie’s own words from her journals, as assembled by actor/director Alan Rickman and journalist Katharine Viner. My Name is Rachel Corrie was the winner of the Theatergoer’s Choice Award in London, where The Guardian wrote “Theatre can't change the world. But what it can do, when it's as good as this, is to send us out enriched by other people's passionate concern…you feel you have not just had a night at the theatre: you have encountered an extraordinary woman.”

Editors: Alan Rickman’s work as a director includes The Winter Guest by Sharman McDonald (Almeida Theatre and West Yorkshire Playhouse). He also directed the film version of The Winter Guest, which was an official selection for the Venice Film Festival and was judged Best Film at the Chicago Film Festival. As an actor, he has appeared on New York stages in Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Private Lives. Recent film appearances include Snow Cake, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Katharine Viner is the features editor of The Guardian newspaper, London. For eight years she edited The Guardian’s Weekend color supplement, for which she was twice named newspaper magazine editor of the year. She has also worked for the Sunday Times and was a judge in the 2004 Orange Prize for Fiction. My Name is Rachel Corrie is her first collaboration for the theatre.

The Director: My Name is Rachel Corrie is Braden Abraham’s first production as a director at Seattle Repertory Theatre. His recent directing credits include Prometheus Bound (The Lincoln Center Directors Lab), Kuwait (Theater Schmeater), Vacation as part of Postcard Plays (The Empty Space), True West (Spokane Interplayers), The Underpants (Spokane Interplayers), The Bridesmaid (Theatre Off Jackson), and The Grandmother Project (Stanford University, NSDF Britain). Mr. Abraham was assistant director to David Esbjornson for The Great Gatsby at The Guthrie Theater and was dramaturg for Ping Chong’s Secret Histories: Seattle Youth at Seattle Rep. He has also helmed readings or workshops with On the Boards, Capitol Hill Arts Center, Seattle Dramatists, Freehold, Gonzaga University, and the University of Idaho. Mr. Abraham has been a member of Seattle Rep’s artistic staff for five seasons where he is currently literary manager. He is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab.

The Actor: Recently awarded “Best Performing Artist” by Seattle Weekly and honored on the Theatre Short List for The Stranger’s Genius Awards, Marya Sea Kaminski is a performer, director, and writer based in Seattle. Marya Sea has created over twenty solo shows and has performed her original work at On the Boards in Seattle, PS 122 in New York, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. She is also a Founding Member and Co-Artistic Director of the Washington Ensemble Theatre.

Performance Details: Performances of My Name is Rachel Corrie are at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday with 2:00 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sundays. There will be no performance on Thursday, March 22, Tuesday March 27 or Wednesday March 28. There will be a 2:00 p.m. matinee on Wednesday, April 18. Post-play discussions will be held after performances on Saturday, March 24 2:00 p.m., Thursday, March 29, Sunday, April 1 2:00 p.m, Thursday, April 5 and Sunday, April 8 2:00 p.m. There is an audio-described performance on Saturday, April 7 at 2:00 p.m. and an American Sign Language (ASL)-interpreted performance on Sunday, April 8 at 2:00 p.m.