West Coast "Corrie" Panel

"The recent controversy surrounding the New York Theatre Workshop’s decision to not open My Name is Rachel Corrie as scheduled, has struck a nerve in the national theatre community."

Or so says the theatre activist "No Passport" organization, organizing bi-coastal panels on the subject. Looks like it definitely has gone national now.

Here's the Press Release one in San Francisco, featuring Magic Theatre A.D. Chris Smith and other local playwrights, directors, and professors.

(Their New York event--not to be confused with the one this Friday at Barnard College--is on April 11 at New Dramatists.)

Searching for a Soul: American Theatre in Times of Fear

A Bay Area Theatre Conversation presented by Bay Area No Passport
with support from The Playwrights Foundation

When: April 10th, 5:30pm - 10pm (5:30pm call; 6:00pm Program Begins)
Where: The Magic Theatre, Ft. Mason Building D, Northside

The recent controversy surrounding the New York Theatre Workshop’s decision to not open My Name is Rachel Corrie as scheduled, has struck a nerve in the national theatre community. Artists have responded in force with letters to NYTW, to editors of various newspapers and magazines and on listserv communities.

While the dust is far from settled, we want to seize this opportunity to begin a dialogue on the state of theatre in America. Our hope is that the Bay Area theatre community will begin an ongoing conversation to examine the issues which affect our art.

Our gathering will not be a trial of the NYTW. Rather, it will seek to discuss the events surrounding the controversy in a community forum setting, addressing the compelling issues that lay beneath its surface: making theatre in the current political climate, the insidious nature of self-censorship, the power that funding holds over content, what issues have become taboo to America’s theatre and ultimately, what is the role of Theatre in times of fear?

The program will begin with Bay Area panelists representing various perspectives present in theater making, followed by the opportunity for small group discussions. Finally, we will hold an open town-hall style dialogue.

Panelists include:

Aaron Davidman, Artistic Director, Traveling Jewish Theatre
Joan Holden, Playwright
Chris Smith, Artistic Director, Magic Theatre
Roberto Gutierrez Varea, Professor, Performing Arts and Social Justice, USF

For planning purposes, please RSVP to enrique_urueta [at] hotmail [dot] com and include the number of people accompanying you.

NoPassport was founded by Caridad Svich as a Pan-American theatre coalition/collective devoted to action, advocacy and change toward the fostering of cross-cultural diversity and difference in the arts with an emphasis on the embrace of the hemispheric spirit in US Latina/o and Latin-American theatre-making.

The New York No Passport members are organizing an April 11th panel “Out of Silence,” that will convene the New York theatre community to discuss the recent controversy surrounding NYTW and MNIRC.