First, some background. Two weeks ago, NYTW artistic director James Nicola announced that plans to present My Name Is Rachel Corrie had been put on hold, due to the sensitive nature of the material. The text of the play was compiled from journal entries and e-mails written by Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American student and activist who supported a free Palestinian state, went to the Gaza Strip as a human shield and was killed by a bulldozer that was being used to raze a home. Corrie was killed on March 16, 2003; the play she inspired opened at the Royal Court last April to enthusiastic reviews. Nicola explained to The New York Times that his theater had polled Jewish groups and found that now was not the time to present the play. He cited Ariel Sharon’s illness and the electoral victory of Hamas as examples of an “edgy” situation that he didn’t want to exacerbate. Later, he argued in a statement posted on NYTW’s website that the theater didn’t have enough time to market the show so that incendiary issues wouldn’t drown out Corrie’s voice and the artistic values in the play. Messy real-world politics threatened to outshine neat aesthetic considerations—so-called “art.”

Since then, a firestorm of protest has ensued. Rickman and Viner quickly cried censorship; Vanessa Redgrave e-mailed friends encouraging the Royal Court to sue NYTW. Online petitions have been circulated. Nicola tried to redefine his decision, arguing that his theater didn’t have enough time to “contextualize” presumably to preempt protests. The criticism has been especially fierce in the theatrical blogosphere. Garrett Eisler’s blog, the Playgoer (www.playgoer.blogspot.com), has tenaciously documented and commented on the situation. Most recently, the Royal Court has disputed Nicola’s version of the production timetable, implying that there was plenty of time to prepare New Yorkers for the awful reality that some Americans actually sympathize with the Palestinians.

How sad that this mess has been brought on by NYTW itself, one of the few theaters that took aesthetic and ideological risks with artists like Tony Kushner, Caryl Churchill and director Ivo van Hove. At the same time, let’s be honest: NYTW was never a truly political theater—at least in the sense of courting controversy or daring subscribers with strong stances. Churchill’s Far Away was an eerie view of totalitarianism wrapped in an absurdist skin. Tony Kushner’s Homebody/Kabul was frighteningly relevant after September 11 and a brilliant study of intercultural corruption, but its protagonists were English and it was telling us things we already knew or were learning. In short, NYTW appears quite averse to presenting hard-edged political theater that isn’t pretty, that refuses to be merely chic postshow cocktail chatter. Ironically, Rachel Corrie presents its hero as a complex mix of innocent American and idealistic youth—not exactly a recruitment poster for suicide bombers.

Nicola, sounding defensive and dispirited over the phone, wearily acknowledges that his company uses a PR firm to test the waters for controversial plays. “People think that their voices are heard free and unfettered,” he says. “Of course, we like to create that atmosphere but that’s a perception. Do they think that happens without someone working at it carefully?” He then notes ruefully that the Royal Court and Rachel Corrie’s creators have parlayed the controversy into a six-week engagement on London’s West End. Nicola could be accused of cynicism for essentially focus-grouping his properties, but a savvy cynic would know that controversy sells tickets.

If anything, this debacle shows that New York needs a theater free from the prejudices of its funders and subscribers, one immune to special interests. Director Josh Fox of the provocative International WOW Company is excited about the possibilities the situation offers. “NYTW is one of our best institutions in terms of being adventurous and political,” he allows. “However, there is a stopping point—boards of directors, corporate sponsors—and I believe it’s systemic.” Fox is talking with local and international companies about opening a “big-ass” independent space. Today, the Arthur Miller Theater is still a distant dream. But for those who want action now, the grassroots organization Rachel’s Words has sprung up. On Thursday 16 (the third anniversary of her death) it will hold readings of Corrie’s writing and present video messages from around the world at the Lafayette Presbyterian Church in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. So Corrie’s voice will be heard in New York; will anyone take the next step?

For details on actions planned for Thursday 16, visit www.rachelswords.org.