A notice was put up to cancel the original opening, "My Name is Rachel Corrie"**. The New York Theater Workshop is afraid of the play being used to forward the "agenda" of people from "all sides of the political platform" thereby drowning out the voice of the artist!
HA! What drowns out an artist's voice more? The controversial discussion that might ensue after an artist's voice is heard
or failing to present the artist's voice at all? How can they possibly hope to find a way to present the play "independent of the political issues associated with it" when the play is centered on political issues? Read what the Director posted about the cancellation. If you would like to respond, the contact information is below the director's notice. There is also the list of the Board of Directors and the producer/patron list...
The following is the post from the director of the New York Theater Workshop:
"MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE
As the artistic director of New York Theatre Workshop for 18 years, I have worked to help our audiences and our community engage in an open and civil discourse on issues of our time. Our purpose for being is to create the most conducive place for these conversations; we have chosen the artists who lead these conversations with great care.
We always try to minimize the distractions around the production so our constituency can hear the artist's voice. This takes a great deal of planning and listening to accomplish. In the less than two months we had to mount the proposed production of the Royal Court's MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE, we found that there was a strong possibility that a number of factions, on all sides of a political conflict, could use the production as a platform for their own agendas. We were not confident that we had the time to create an environment where the art could be heard independent of the political issues associated with it.
We continue to have a deep interest in presenting MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE. We have asked our colleagues at the Royal Court to give us the necessary time to consider how we could present this powerful work with the integrity it deserves. We are awaiting their answer.
James Nicola
Artistic Director, New York Theatre Workshop"
http://www.nytw.org/
"What you see today at nytw.org is just a first step. But you can play a part already by letting us know what you'd like to see on an NYTW Website, and telling us what information and services you most want to access on-line. Better still, if you're well endowed (financially, that is) or run an absolutely amazing, visionary (and still solvent) e-business that's looking for a little pro bono action on the side, we'd be delighted to talk with you. Send your comments, questions and queries to Alan Schrier at AlanS@nytw.org."
http://www.nytw.org/...
here is the board of Directors:
Barbara Warner Howard
Chair
Wayne S. Kabak
President
Stephen Morris
Treasurer
Barbara Cutler
Secretary
Stephen Graham
Founding Trustee
Jane Brite Julie Denny C.C. Dyer Jodi Edmonds Ellen Fleysher Allan S. Gordon
Fanni V. Green Steven Jacobson Lynn Moffat Anthony E. Napoli James C. Nicola Steven B. Rosenfeld
Patricia E. Rowell Joan Stein Dennis D. Swanson Deborah Voigt Doug Wright
http://www.nytw.org/...
And here the patron list of those called "producers", who donated $50,000.00 or more to the New York Theater Workshop:
http://www.nytw.org/...
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Stephen & Cathy Graham
Barbara Warner Howard
National Endowment for the Arts
The New York Community Trust -
The Island Fund
New York State Council on the Arts
The Shubert Foundation
The Skirball Foundation
The William and Mary Greve Foundation
Anonymous
http://www.nytw.org/...
What really happened.com was the lead for this information:
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com
**Here is a little bit about Rachel Corrie:
http://www.rachelcorrie.org/
and an article about her death:
http://electronicintifada.net/...
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Link to the 118 stories from February on Choice Changes:
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