My Name is Rachel Corrie is a one woman show written from the diary entries of a young woman who grew up in America and after an impassioned career within activist politics, travelled to the Gaza strip to assist the Palestinian people in their daily struggle to survive.

What I appreciated most about the writing was its ability to unashamedly state its position on the conflict thanks to the lived experience of Rachel herself. This performance did not toe the line or try to trace back the history of the Gaza strip to find exonerating factors or excuses for the bloodshed, it simply bears witness to the violence. There are few explanations, and as such the brutality is even more incomprehensible and abhorrent.

It was odd that once the performance had finished I realised that I had connected with the character more whilst she was in the extreme conditions in Gaza than I had when she was living her supposedly normal life in America. If this was a reflection of the character’s core humanity emerging during extreme conditions, I would have been very impressed, however the sensation is related to weaknesses in the script as opposed to conscious theatrical choices.

Whilst I understand the importance of getting a sense of the character’s life in her home town so we can later understand the magnitude of her change in Gaza, the first section of the performance is noticeably weaker than the second. The problem may stem from dialogue lifted from diary entries that were never meant to be read in a performance context. The result is overly flowery language that presents few points of connection between performer Belinda Bromilow and the audience. The direction of the action does little to acknowledge this problem and proceeds to present Rachel as a bizarre caricature of American culture almost indecipherable to an Australian audience.

The weakness of the direction unfortunately lets other aspects of the performance down as well. With single actor shows there is so much scrutiny on every minute action, and often techniques intended to break up the performance distance the meaning from the audience. Here, sound effects are utilised to signify change of setting, however I am fairly certain I have heard the same droning sound effect in at least two other shows this year. The transformation of the set also left me nonplussed and only served to signify a lack of clarity in directorial vision.

Regardless, I still consider My Name is Rachel Corrie to be an important piece of theatre. Belinda Bromilow’s performance often shines through the oftentimes problematic script to give a performance that made me anxious about my own lack of involvement, and indeed my comparable ignorance about the Palestinian conflict. It is a performance that will ultimately lead you to question theatre’s relationship with politics and also theatre’s ability to inspire change. Whilst it probably won’t send you off packing to Gaza, it will give you an uncompromising perspective on one of the most fraught situations in the world and one individual woman’s heart wrenching reassessment of human nature.

Title: My Name is Rachel Corrie

Location: Belvoir Street Theatre, 25 Belvoir Street, Surry Hills

Season: 14 May - 8 June