More than just a story about a girl
OSU Theater Arts presents tale about standing up for beliefs
Ian Grogan
Issue date: 10/23/09 Section: Diversions
Diversions
This week marks a pivotal moment between the theater and social movements.
This weekend the OSU Theater Arts will open its audiences to a world hardly known to most Americans as they present "My Name is Rachel Corrie." The play touches on one of the biggest issues plaguing our world today: the Middle East.
Written and edited by Alan Rickman, translated by Katherine Viner, the play follows the diary of Rachel Corrie, an Evergreen State University student who went on a activist voyage to the Gaza strip. Ultimately she perished fighting for what she believed in.
The play opens with Rachel in her room talking about her life up until then. Her passion for human rights, her voyage to write, not to mention her disordered and messy room - symbolic of what she's about to dive into.
Corrie's character is played by the talented Elizabeth Helman, an instructor in the department of speech communication at OSU.
"Rachel was an incredible character," Helman said. "Her story was compelling and I wanted to portray those emotions. I feel like I knew her."
Helman plays a compelling role, keeping the audience entertained with humor, passion and genuine emotion. However, she wanted to remind the audience that this play isn't about her acting but about Rachel and her struggles.
"My job is to tell her story. She wanted to inspire us to change the world."
The play moves on, utilizing limited stage space to express her life in Gaza and her life leading up to her end.
Helman has a way of pulling the audience into the story and giving them the feeling of actually being in Palestine in the early 2000s.
"Reading the script was like reading her journal," Helman said.
The audience could connect in the same way, and although they are in a back room of the OSU Theater Arts, one could almost feel the bullets whizzing past their heads as the bulldozers roar in the distance.
Prior to each show there is a lecture to set up the struggles going on in the Middle East, to set the performance in a cultural setting, and to add to the background of the issue at hand. In addition to the lecture, there are chances to ask questions to Helman and Charlotte Headrick, director of the play, adding to the discussion of the issues.
This week marks a pivotal moment between the theater and social movements.
This weekend the OSU Theater Arts will open its audiences to a world hardly known to most Americans as they present "My Name is Rachel Corrie." The play touches on one of the biggest issues plaguing our world today: the Middle East.
Written and edited by Alan Rickman, translated by Katherine Viner, the play follows the diary of Rachel Corrie, an Evergreen State University student who went on a activist voyage to the Gaza strip. Ultimately she perished fighting for what she believed in.
The play opens with Rachel in her room talking about her life up until then. Her passion for human rights, her voyage to write, not to mention her disordered and messy room - symbolic of what she's about to dive into.
Corrie's character is played by the talented Elizabeth Helman, an instructor in the department of speech communication at OSU.
"Rachel was an incredible character," Helman said. "Her story was compelling and I wanted to portray those emotions. I feel like I knew her."
Helman plays a compelling role, keeping the audience entertained with humor, passion and genuine emotion. However, she wanted to remind the audience that this play isn't about her acting but about Rachel and her struggles.
"My job is to tell her story. She wanted to inspire us to change the world."
The play moves on, utilizing limited stage space to express her life in Gaza and her life leading up to her end.
Helman has a way of pulling the audience into the story and giving them the feeling of actually being in Palestine in the early 2000s.
"Reading the script was like reading her journal," Helman said.
The audience could connect in the same way, and although they are in a back room of the OSU Theater Arts, one could almost feel the bullets whizzing past their heads as the bulldozers roar in the distance.
Prior to each show there is a lecture to set up the struggles going on in the Middle East, to set the performance in a cultural setting, and to add to the background of the issue at hand. In addition to the lecture, there are chances to ask questions to Helman and Charlotte Headrick, director of the play, adding to the discussion of the issues.
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