"The Zionists": Barrington Stage Opens Most Timely Play of the Summer Next Week

June 16–July 3 | Pittsfield, MA | Opening night June 20

Barrington Stage Company opens "The Zionists: A Family Storm" on June 16, coming directly from its world premiere run at Miami New Drama, where it generated the kind of conversations that families of all stripes are having at these days.

The story, smartly keeps it's focus contained. It's November 2024, thirteen months after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, and the Rosenberg family has gathered at a luxury Caribbean resort for Thanksgiving. Matriarch Ruth is determined to bring everyone together; patriarch Mitchell is a happy-go-lucky man who breaks into showtunes. The family is wealthy, deeply Jewish, and completely divided. As a hurricane closes in on the island, the conversation turns to Israel, Gaza, the war, and what each of them believes—and the storm outside feels less dangerous than the one swirling between the players. The family members include two siblings who served in the Israel Defense Forces and made their lives in Israel, a daughter who teaches at a Jewish day school, a son involved in IDF fundraising, and a daughter-in-law who teaches at Columbia University and brings a different set of political frameworks to the table.

Playwright S. Asher Gelman, a Bard College graduate who cofounded The Stage theater company in Tel Aviv and now lives in New York City, wrote the play from lived experience. He has described his goal as getting audiences to sit with discomfort rather than resolve it: "I hope they feel conflicted. I hope they feel compelled to reach out to someone they disagree with." he has said.

Director Chloe Treat, who helmed the Miami production, brings the show to Pittsfield with the same production. It's the kind of theater that inspires conversations on the car ride home.

The opening night celebration is Saturday, June 20 at 7:30pm. A post-show Aftershow conversation is scheduled for June 24, and a Deeper Look midweek matinee runs June 30 at 11am.

Boyd-Quinson Stage, Barrington Stage Company, 30 Union St., Pittsfield, MA. Tickets at barringtonstageco.org or 413-242-6411.