Touring play ‘My Name is Rachel Corrie’ brings story of young activist in Israel/Palestine to Goshen

Play: “My Name is Rachel Corrie”

Date and time: Thursday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m.

Location: Umble Center

Suggested donation: $10 general, $5 student

GOSHEN, Ind. – Twenty-three-year-old activist Rachel Corrie was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who traveled to the Gaza strip in Israel/Palestine. She was killed on March 16, 2003, when she tried to stop an Israeli bulldozer in the Palestinian residential area of Rafah. The circumstances of Corrie’s death are disputed and sparked controversy. It led to international media coverage, in part because she was an American, and in part because of the highly politicized nature of the conflict itself.

After her death, a play, “My Name is Rachel Corrie,” was created from the personal journal entries, e-mails and writings of this young activist. It will be performed at Goshen College on Thursday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m. in Umble Center by Countdown to Zero, of Denver, Colo., a touring political theatre collective dedicated to theatrical based political dialogue. The play was edited by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner, and is being produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.

The aim of Countdown to Zero is to expand community exchange on a local and national level in a time of highly charged political extremes. Goshen College Associate Professor of Theater Michelle Milne will facilitate a conversation between the audience and the performer immediately following the performance. Participants will include members of local Christian Peacemaker Teams, WAND, Seniors for Peace, the college’s student Pax Club and members of Countdown to Zero Theater Company.

The suggested donation for the play is $10 general admission and $5 for students.

Umble Center is accessible to wheelchairs and people with other physical limitations.

Editors: For more information about this release, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu. For interviews with the director or actor, contact tour manager Eric Meyer (formerly of Millersburg, Ind.) (574) 975-3620.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.