CanStage boardmember Jack Rose admitted he had neither read nor seen the play but said: "My view was it would provoke a negative reaction in the Jewish community"
A play featuring the writings of the late American peace activist Rachel Corrie: “My Name is Rachel Corrie” has been cancelled at a Canadian Theatre in what can only be described as contemptible self censorship. The Canadian theatre company CanStage has done a three monkeys and pulled down the Iron Curtain of censorship down on it by announcing its cancelling plans to present the play in Toronto : Can stage, won't stage, exit stage.
Rachel was twenty-three years old when she was deliberately crushed to death by an Israeli Caterpillar bulldozer in Gaza in March 2003. Earlier this year, the New York Theatre Workshop drew international outrage when it backed out of an agreement to stage the play. The Theatre Workshop cited complaints about the play’s criticism of Israeli policy in the Occupied Territories. It appears similar concerns have led to the CanStage decision. In an interview with Variety magazine, CanStage boardmember Jack Rose admitted he had neither read nor seen the play but said: "My view was it would provoke a negative reaction in the Jewish community.