Barnard Theatre professor Shawn-Marie Garrett will moderate the April 7 discussion on "Rachel Corrie and the Theatre of Public Opinion" at Noon in Milbank Hall's Minor Latham Playhouse on the college campus (Broadway at West 119th Street).

Scheduled to be part of the panel will be playwrights Christopher Shinn and Kelly Stuart (Columbia University professor), theatre critics John Heilpern (New York Observer) and Alisa Solomon (Columbia School of Journalism prof.), director Gregory Mosher (Columbia University Arts Initiative), and City University of New York professor of Theatre and Comparative Literature Marvin A. Carlson.

The London solo drama, My Name Is Rachel Corrie, penned by actor Alan Rickman and journalist Katherine Viner, is about the death of the titular American protestor killed in the Gaza Strip. Seen last year at London's Royal Court Theater, My Name Is Rachel Corrie is concocted using her journals and emails. The tragic occurrence has drawn wrath from both sides of the politically-fueled fence — some saying the death was accidental and others contending it was not.

The work was scheduled then postponed at Off-Broadway's New York Theatre Workshop which was reported in the New York Times. Both theatre companies were thrust into a press-statement war immediately after the decision to delay the work; the London-based company and the play's creators accusing the New York company of censorship while the New York troupe stating it merely sought to present the work in a climate suitable for the volatile work.

Rachel Corrie currently performs a West End run at the Playhouse Theatre, through May 7, with original star Megan Dodds in the title role. The solo is scheduled to play in the United States March 15-April 22, 2007 at Seattle Repertory Theatre. Rickman (last seen on Broadway in Private Lives and known for turns in the "Harry Potter" films) directed the drama in London which he penned with The Guardian journalist Viner.

For more information, visit www.barnard.edu.