My Name Is Rachel Corrie

My Name Is Rachel Corrie is the true story of a young woman killed while doing peace work in Palestine. An Israeli bulldozer drove over her as she stood protesting the demolition of homes in Gaza.

The play was written by the actor Alan Rickman. Deeply moved by Rachel’s writing, he contacted her parents and received their blessing to create a monologue based on her diaries. Rickman brought in the Guardian journalist Katharine Viner, and the resulting play was a hit at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 2005. It has since attracted well-deserved attention around the world.

Þóra Karitas Árnadóttir produced the Icelandic production in collaboration with Reykjavík City Theatre, where it was performed on the Small Stage. Þóra played Rachel and asked María to direct.

María approached the play through improvisation, starting with body and voice, moving into the world of the play and finally to the text. She used Viewpoints and other ideas from experimental dance to create Rachel’s stylised journey through the piece. Bjartmar Þórðarson was assistant director, and the process became a rich and joyful collaboration. The team restructured the play considerably to strengthen the drama and clarify the character’s through-line. Out of the improvisations came the idea of setting the whole play in Rachel’s teenage bedroom and letting it transform into the conflict zone in Gaza without any scene changes, which gave Björn Bergsteinn Guðmundsson’s lighting a larger role. Filippía Elísdóttir created a bold backdrop on which Rachel painted her life; her doll’s house formed the background and her diaries a frame around her, which she could also follow like a path.

The sound design by Magga Stína was a chapter in itself. The team made contact with Palestinian refugee women who had recently arrived in Iceland and invited them to spend a whole day working in the theatre, singing their lullabies, laments and calls to prayer. They spoke of how their people had cried and called for help endlessly without anyone hearing. The team hoped that by making their voices part of the production, their cries would reach the public. Media coverage of their contribution also drew attention to their cause and made them visible. Rachel Corrie’s parents later came to Iceland, and on that occasion a symposium on Palestine was held at Reykjavík City Theatre, along with a performance of Caryl Churchill’s Seven Jewish Children.