A one-person play about a polarizing political and religious issue has the potential to turn out a few different ways: It could be boring. It could be preachy. It could be both.

Fortunately, “My Name is Rachel Corrie,” which makes its St. Louis debut with the new troupe Blue Rose Stage Collective, is neither boring nor preachy. It’s the rare one-actor show that manages to be engaging and thought-provoking from start to finish.

The story is based on actual events and is composed of journal entries and e-mails (edited for the stage by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner) from Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old from Olympia, Wash., who died in 2003 when she was crushed by a bulldozer in the Gaza Strip. She had joined the International Solidarity Movement, a group that protests the demolition of Palestinian homes by Israeli forces.

“Rachel Corrie” has been surrounded by its share of controversy, which prompted a delay of its 2006 New York premiere. Accounts of Corrie’s tale vary depending on who’s giving them, but the heart of the story is all here: A young woman doesn’t understand why her country is taking part in something she believes is wrong, so she stands up and fights.

Magan Wiles deftly portrays Corrie, a girl who’s strong in her convictions but who also allows moments of weakness and inexperience to peek through her tough-as-nails exterior.

Wiles is the only actor onstage, and it’s hard to take your eyes off her, whether she’s stuffing her knapsack, tidying up her room or making very important lists in her journal.

Those details are key to this show (actually, to any one-person show) — they’re what make it all feel authentic and not like a lecture.

Other details in the staging and Tom Martin’s direction help propel the story, establish setting and create drama. A large screen in the background creates a wash of red in Corrie’s bedroom and is also used to display images from her travels. And during her moving monologues, live video of Corrie is projected, giving us an extreme close-up of Wiles’ expressive face.

Wiles, a two-time Kevin Kline Award nominee, intimately knows Corrie’s story. In her program notes, she reveals that she, too, has traveled to Palestine with ISM.

Whether it’s life imitating art or art imitating life, it works, and Wiles’ portrayal is richer for it.