One of the great things about theatre is that it can hold up a mirror to the world we live in and show up its problems. That was the driving force in Shakespeare’s classic tragedies. (For example Romeo and Juliet, two young lovers caught up in the crossfire between two warring families). The play, ‘My Name is Rachel Corrie’, the dramatisation of the writings of Rachel Corrie by Alan Rickman and Katherine Viner, is just such a play.

‘My Name is Rachel Corrie’ tells an ugly story. 23 year old American political activist Rachel Corrie from Olympia, Washington, was crushed to death by an Israeli Defcnce Force bulldozer on the 16th March, 2003 in the Gaza town of Rafah whilst undertaking non-violent direct action to protect the home of a Palestinian doctor, his wife and three children from demolition. The incident attracted worldwide media outrage.

The piece works very effective dramatically. The play had a clear thematic through-line. Rachel Corrie was in many ways an ordinary young woman. She maintained to do lists, she fretted about travelling to the Middle East, and she worried about what her parents thought about her. She was articulate, high-spirited; she had strongly held political beliefs and convictions, as many young people do. Her very ordinariness, coupled with her idealism, against the ruthlessness of the Middle East conflict, breaks the heart.

Shannon Murphy directs a tight, intense production in the intimate downstairs Belvoir space. Andy McDonell’s compact, multi-media set worked well. WAAPA graduate Belinda Bromilow gave a strong, well-rounded solo performance as Corrie. She charts a solid journey, going from a feisty young woman jumping a bit out of her skin with her passions to a more mature person living in the harshness of Gaza.

‘My Name is Rachel Corrie’ plays downstairs Belvoir until the 1st June. Siobhan Robertson from Belvoir Street advised that the first Arabic version of the play has just premiered in Israel.