I missed the show on Monday night outside the Nova Music Festival Exhibition on Wall Street. Anti-Israel protesters gathered Waving Palestinian flags and lighting flares,A detailed recollection of the brutal October 7 attack“It is right to rebel — Go to hell, Israel!”
Instead, I went to Hell’s Kitchen and watched Phelim McAleer’s “October 7: In Their Own WordsMcAleer’s work is a verbatim drama, meaning a documentary-style play, and in this case the source material comes from actual survivor testimonies of the Hamas attacks on the Nova music festival and a nearby kibbutz in 2023. McAleer and his wife, Ann McElhinney, conducted the interviews.
Coming Soon: October 7thYoutube
This is not McCarthy’s first experience with verbatim drama and controversy. His play “FergusonMcAleer used evidence and testimony presented to the grand jury in the trial of Darren Wilson that ultimately acquitted the officer of charges in the shooting death of Michael Brown.
Although I “knew” what was coming, I was not prepared for the experience, and once the action started (which it did quickly), there was no stopping it.
I thought the controversy would die down if I denied ever saying “Hands up, don’t shoot” onstage, and then moved on to a play about the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. But I remembered the early reactions.The day after the October 7 massacre, while the bodies and body parts were still being counted, I watched as activists took to the microphone in Union Square praising the “resistance” and saying, “At least a few dozen hipsters. “And I can’t forget BLM Chicago Would he use iconography of a Hamas paraglider to proclaim (in a soon-to-be-deleted post) “I support Palestine”?
The evening of June 10, when I went to see the play, coincided with a citywide day of rage against Gaza, and anti-Israel protesters were spotted throughout the city (as well as outside an exhibition center in downtown Manhattan), with at least one banner reading:Hooray for October 7thAmid chants of “Long live the Intifada!” and “Long live the Intifada!”, it became clear why all ticket holders had to pass through metal detectors to enter the Actors Temple Theatre, where “Seventh of October” was being performed.
I left my pocket knife in the car and went through security. It was only when I took my seat and noticed the actors on stage dancing to techno music that I realized I had been disarmed. I’ll never forget it. Security’s clever response was also symbolically effective. I was now at Nova Music Festival and there was nothing I could do. (Not that a pocket knife would be much help!)
While we “knew” what was going to happen, we were not prepared for the experience. Once the action starts (which it does quickly), it never stops. Nearly every actor plays multiple roles, making it hard at times to keep track of who is who and where they are. Whether intentional or not, this kind of casting fits the reality of the situation. We are thrown into the chaos of a massacre happening on multiple fronts: on the festival grounds, on the kibbutz, or on the roads connecting them.
McCurry expertly weaves together many stories.She glares at the assassin and says, “There’s no need to fear that man.” Or another woman, forced to hide in a safe room as terrorists invade her home, has only water and a container to urinate in, and mentally frequents a museum to stay sane.
But I think the verbatim genre is too restrictive, because there are moments that are true yet sentimental: for example, many characters credit their survival because “God was with me,” but I don’t recall any character ever asking, “Where was God through all this hell?”
Spoiler alert: the show’s final line, “We will dance again,” is perfect and saccharine, but given the city-wide vitriol surrounding the play, I’m more than happy with that.
Before the show started, I was listening to a conversation in the back row. A Jewish woman was explaining that she had a friend who wouldn’t talk to her about Israel. She wouldn’t even bring up the breaking news of the hostage rescue. By even bringing up the topic, she would be in danger of losing her friend. And that’s the biggest drawback of “October 7: In Their Own Words”: attending the event is a political act. I know many people are hesitant to attend, but Only a few days leftTake risks.
