Review: My Name is Rachel Corrie, Hen and Chickens Theatre

My Name is Rachel Corrie is a one-woman play about a young American activist who was killed by the Israeli military in Gaza in 2003. It is told in her own words, constructed from diary extracts and emails to friends and family, from her early years in Olympia, Washington until her death. Originally performed at the Royal Court in 2005, My Name is Rachel Corrie was edited by the late actor Alan Rickman and journalist Katherine Viner.

The play charts Rachel Corrie’s development from imaginative child to compassionate teenager, to fearless peace activist. In January 2003, aged 23, she travels to Gaza for a university project and volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement, with the goal of preventing the destruction of Palestinian homes. It was while trying to stop a demolition that she was killed by an armoured bulldozer. The play begins with her teenage diaries which are filled with fun and innocent wonder. This contrasts sharply with her later writing where she documents the daily injustices, humiliations, and violence she sees.

The editors have crafted her words into a compelling 90-minute narrative. Her journals detail curfews, checkpoints, shootings and the constant presence of tanks and helicopters. Her letters to her parents are especially moving as she becomes increasingly despairing at what she witnesses. There is a sense of dread as she tells her mother that she has nightmares about being crushed by a bulldozer. Thankfully the moments of her death are not graphically shown, and a moment for quiet reflection is included at the end.

Fiona Lynch is mesmerising as Rachel. Alone on stage throughout, she brings energy and emotion to the monologue. She delightfully brings to life Rachel’s childhood innocence, creativity and ambition and sensitively portrays her growing disillusionment with those in power.

While the set is simple, consisting of a makeshift bed, some rubble, banners with bullet holes, and a small olive tree, it sets the scene clearly in the home of Rachel’s hosts in Rafah. The show is underpinned with some beautiful Palestinian Oud music from Saied Silbak.

Today we have social media bringing violence directly from Gaza to our screens and films such as the Voice of Hind Rajab and Gaza: Doctors Under Attack have documented the horrors of the situation in Palestine. Yet there is still a place for focusing on one woman’s heart-breaking testimony and this intense and intimate play is still a powerful experience, twenty-one years after it was first performed.

Directed by Jaen Loftin
Produced by Ali Lane
Set and Costume design by Hayley Rae
Sound and Lighting by Ky Acab

My Name is Rachel Corrie plays at the Hen & Chickens Theatre until Saturday 27 June.