Haunting play 'October 7' lets Hamas terror survivors speak

I missed the show Monday night outside the Nova Music Festival Exhibition on Wall Street, where anti-Israel protesters gathered to wave Palestinian flags, light flares, and remind anyone observing the “in-depth remembrance of the brutal October 7th attack” that “IT IS RIGHT TO REBEL – ISRAEL, GO TO HELL!”

Instead, I went to Hell’s Kitchen to watch Phelim McAleer’s "October 7: In Their Own Words." McAleer’s production is a verbatim play — a documentary style of theater, which in this case means the source material comes from the testimony of real-life survivors of Hamas’ 2023 attack on the Nova Music Festival and nearby kibbutzim. McAleer and his wife, Ann McElhinney, conducted the interviews.

Coming Soon: OCTOBER 7www.youtube.com

This isn’t McAleer’s first dance with verbatim theater or controversy. For his play "Ferguson," McAleer used evidence and testimony presented to the grand jury in the case against Darren Wilson that ultimately cleared the police officer of charges in the shooting death of Michael Brown.

While I 'knew' what was going to happen, I was not prepared for the experience. Once the action gets going — which is pretty straight away — it doesn’t let up.

I thought going from debunking “Hands up — don’t shoot!” on stage to a play about the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust would dial down the controversy. But then I remembered some early responsesto the October 7 massacre. In the days after it, when bodies and body parts were still being counted, I watched an activist get on the mic in Union Square to praise “the resistance” for taking out “at least several dozen hipsters.”And who can forget BLM Chicago using the iconography of the Hamas paragliders to declare (in a soon-to-be-deleted post) “I STAND WITH PALESTINE”?

June 10, the night I went out to review the play, coincided with the “Citywide Day of Rage for Gaza,” where anti-Israel protesters were spotted around the city (not just outside the exhibit in downtown Manhattan) with at least one banner reading “Long Live October 7th” and chants of “LONG LIVE THE INTIFADA!” I can see why all ticket-holders had to pass through a metal detector to enter the Actors Temple Theater, where "October 7" has its run.

I left my pocketknife in my car and passed through security. It was only when I took my seat and noticed some of the actors on stage dancing to techno music that I realized I’d been disarmed. It was haunting. The wise security move also worked symbolically. I was now at the Nova Music Festival, and there was nothing I could do about it. (As if a pocketknife would have helped anyway!)

While I “knew” what was going to happen, I was not prepared for the experience. Once the action gets going — which is pretty straight away — it doesn’t let up. Nearly all the actors play multiple roles, which at times makes it hard to track who’s who and where we are. Intentional or not, this kind of casting lends itself to the reality of the situation: We are thrown into the chaos of the massacre(s) happening on multiple fronts, whether it be on the festival grounds, in the kibbutzim, or on the roads that connect them.

McAleer does a fine job weaving together so many stories. There are powerful moments like the woman whostares down her would-be assassin and says, “He doesn’t deserve my fear.” Or another woman, forced to hide in her safe room while terrorists infest her home — she has nothing but some water and a pot to pee in, and in order to keep her sanity, she goes to museums in her mind.

But I believe the verbatim genre can be too restrictive, because there are moments that ring true but sentimental. For example, while there are a number of characters who attribute their survival to “God was with me,” there are none I remember who ask, “Where was God through this hell?”

Spoiler: The final line of the show, “We will dance again,” is perfect and saccharine. But considering all the bitterness in the streets surrounding the play, I’m more than fine with it.

Before the show started, I was listening to a conversation in the row behind me. A Jewish woman was explaining that she has certain friends with whom she doesn’t talk about Israel. She won’t even bring up the latest news about the hostages being rescued. Just broaching the topic risks her losing friendships. And that is the biggest downside of "October 7: In Their Own Words": to attend it is a political act. I know that’s kept many people from attending. But there are only a few dates left. Take the risk.