“War, all of the time/ In the shadow of a New York skyline/ We grew up too fast, falling apart/ Like the ashes of American flags.” Taken from Thursday’s post-9/11 album this is a quote which captures the mood of specifically the young American generation. They won’t be known as baby-boomers, or X-geners, but more than likely will be labelled the generation who got lost somewhere and never made it out the other side. This feeling of the lost and directionless, accompanied by a political disgust are the fuel behind My Name is Rachel Corrie, as well as the question of ‘why?’

Why did a 23-year-old girl from a comfortable upbringing in Olympia, USA, leave her college and family behind to stand between a bulldozer and a Palestinian home? Rachel Corrie (Josephine Taylor) tells her story thus far: why her room is red, why she only went to state college, of why her studies came second to more important things, of everything that made her go to Gaza to work for the International Solidarity Movement, everything up until her sudden death on 16th March 2003.

Edited from Rachel Corrie’s journals and emails this is an exploration as to why she did what she did. Presented as a monologue, the writing is interesting, but only tells so much of whom she really was, all the words are her own so there is no chance to see her interacting with other people, a crucial factor in determining who a person is. Touching and relevant, this monologue resonates particularly with a young audience faced with similar life choices, but ultimately is too long and uninterrupted to hold a wavering attention. Direction was static and obvious, and not enough advantage was taken of the multimedia available. Taylor presented an interesting character and was consistent throughout, it was just a shame she didn’t have more to work with. Overall the play feels too flat for the stage, and a nice culmination of Corrie’s works in book form would probably have given more answers to why she gave her life away. A West-end hit, this just doesn’t cut it with the diverse festival choice.

Pleasance Courtyard, 60 The Pleasance (0131 556 6550)
Preview Aug 3-4: 17:50 (1hr30mins) £6
Aug 5-10, 15-17, 22-24, 28: 17:50 (1hr30mins) £12.50 (£11)
Aug 11-13, 18-20, 25-27: 17:50 (1 hr 30mins) £13.50 (£12)