"My Name Is Rachel Corrie" closes in New York today

After a year of controversy and debate, "My Name Is RachelCorrie" is - thank G-d - closing. The play was put together by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner from the writings of the American-born palestinian-rights Rachel Corrie who was accidentally killed in 2003 by an IDF bulldozer in the Gaza Strip when she stepped in front of it. After its final performance on Dec. 17, "Rachel Corrie" will have played 9 previews and 71 regular performances at the Minetta Lane Theater in GreenwichVillage. The run of "Rachel Corrie" was tranquil compared with the uproar that preceded its arrival. The production was initially scheduled to move in March from the Royal Court Theater in London to the New York Theater Workshop. But when the workshop's artistic director, James C. Nicola, decided to postpone the show, many in the theater community erupted in protest. In June, Dena Hammerstein and Pam Pariseau (please note the fascists who supported this show) announced that they would produce it for a commercial run Off Broadway.