October 7: A Verbatim Play at the Actors’ Temple Theater in Manhattan shows only one character covered in blood.
There are no fancy effects or any hugely known actors.
And that’s the way it should be in what is believed to be the first play in America about the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7.
The people who were slaughtered by Hamas terrorists were regular people who expected to live a day like they normally did. Journalists, best-selling authors, filmmakers, and podcasters Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney, who are husband and wife, headed to Israel in November 2023 and interviewed many Israelis. Those interviews are the basis for the show. McAleer wrote the play using only text from the interviews and McElhinney produced it.
What prompted them to go to the Holy Land in the first place?
“No one was talking about October 7,” McAleer told The Jewish Press outside the theater after a recent performance. “Everyone was talking about the war in Gaza. October 7 was immediately forgotten. It was a major world event and people were pretending like it didn’t happen. It wasn’t just Ireland [where McAleer is from] – it was all around the world.”
He added that he was surprised that Israelis, despite the horror, were able to make a few jokes, and there are a handful in the play. The show is fast-paced and there are numerous gunshot sounds, sometimes of increasing or decreasing volume to represent the different range of terrorists.
One young man who tells the story of evading the clutches of Hamas while speeding past machine gun fire says, “If I had a camera attached to the car, I could have sold the footage to Spielberg himself.”
A female character asks: “Is this Yom Kippur II?” In 1973, Israel was attacked in what became known as the Yom Kippur War and Israel hadn’t expected its enemies would dare to attack.
One chilling moment is when we hear a measure of solace in that a young woman was murdered but not raped or burned.
The roles the actors play are all inherently difficult, as it is impossible to recreate what one would feel like during a massacre. Among the best are Yair Ben-Dor who as Asaf must stay strong in the face of carnage, and Jenny Anne Hochberg, who is excellent as a young woman dealing with the anxiety of hell on earth.
Ben-Dor, who was born in Philadelphia but lived in Israel for most of his life before moving to New York City, said those outside Israel don’t understand the magnitude of the trauma of October 7. He said the play isn’t easy to perform since it’s been only seven months since the attack. “It’s hard to do this material every day,” he told The Jewish Press. “I don’t know if it’s a hot ticket to sell. The actors in this show – we’re certainly not doing this show for our careers. We’re doing it because this is important, and this is our way to contribute.”
Jeff Gurner is engrossing as an Orthodox Jew named Zaki who breaks the Sabbath under the rule of pikuach nefesh, or saving a life to try to protect his community. “I think it is important to show that while there were conflicts among different groups, all of those went out the window to come together to survive,” Gurner said. “Zaki is a hero.”
Actress Hochberg explained that the show is extremely important to her. “I think of the hostages before every show and remind myself every night who I am doing this for and why this story needs to be told each day,” she said.
I’ve seen countless Holocaust plays and films, and watching this, I was once again brought back to the question of what I would do in that situation and whether or not I could survive. What if I didn’t make it to the safe room? What went through the minds of people who were in what they thought was the safety of their homes and soon realized the worst possible nightmare had become reality?
Some of the characters ask where the police or soldiers are and how they were not better defended. The actors portray characters in fear and shock; some are more shaken than others, and some think quickly on their feet to fight back.
The ensemble of about 14 avoids overacting and there is a weight to the play, knowing that all the words were not scripted but were said by real Israelis that went through that horrible day.
As Ilya, Jonas Barranca represents a man wondering how he can deal with such sorrow, while as Ayelet, Leora Kalish plays an older woman trying to keep it together.
Director Geoffrey Cantor is also an actor. He has been in many shows, including Daredevil, and played an Orthodox Jew attacked on The Sopranos. “This is not a political piece,” Cantor told The Jewish Press. “This is about humanity and the lack thereof, and about survival and our people once again facing a disastrous assault and coming away with integrity and strength. It’s about how human beings had to deal with savagery and move forward. It’s a direct address to the audience of these people’s experiences so you’ll have empathy no matter who you are, whether you are Jewish or not. This was an emotional atomic bomb.”
McAleer said he sees people using wrong terms in calling Israel’s war a genocide. “Language has been abused,” he said. “I studied English in college. By no definition in the English language is it genocide.” He said in Ireland, there is “very much an oppressor and oppressed psychology” where many facts are not taken into consideration.
Did McAleer, as someone who isn’t Jewish, have any reservations about stepping forward and creating this play?
“I did feel sometimes, ‘Should I be doing this?’” he said. “But I realized it needed somebody who wasn’t Jewish to do it to step above and get the big themes to show well-rounded people. I didn’t want to make a Coca-Cola version. I wanted to show ordinary people who became extraordinary.”
Asked about the college protests, he said: “We intend to take this play to colleges in the fall.”
Vietnam veteran Henry Mendelsohn, 78, stood outside the theater. He said when he got back from fighting in that war, he wanted to register for college. “I got spit on and cursed at for being in the military,” he remembered. He wound up going to the University of Haifa and was a reservist in the Israeli Army.
“I think everybody should see this play,” he said. “College students today don’t read enough. They get their news from TikTok.”
October 7: A Verbatim Play is a jarring piece of drama that will make you cry, make you want to scream, and make you feel lucky that when you put your head on your pillow, you have no fear that you will be attacked in your home or taken hostage. You will consider that if you go to a dance party, your worst fear would be that someone may mock your moves.
In showing the day that was the greatest massacre against Jews since the Holocaust, and by choosing to use a script only with words from the real interviews, the authenticity here is palpable. McAleer and Cantor are able to present a striking piece portraying the horrors without hyperbole. It should be seen by as many people as possible.
October 7: A Verbatim Play runs through June 16. The theater is protected by the NYPD and requires ticketholders to pass through a metal detector.
