A Jewish organization at UCLA hosted the West Coast debut of “October 7: In Their Own Words” – a verbatim play commemorating the victims of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack – on Monday.

The performance was organized by the Dortort Center for Creativity in the Arts, which is part of Hillel at UCLA, an off-campus Jewish community center. The play was organized for students and the broader Jewish community to listen through a theatrical performance to the personal narratives of those directly impacted by the attack, said Dan Gold, executive director of Hillel at UCLA.

Around 360 people attended the play, which commemorates the victims of the Hamas attack that killed around 1,200 Israelis, according to ABC News. Afterward, there was a Q&A session with the writers, directors and actors.

Verbatim theatre uses the exact spoken testimony of real people. Written by Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney, the play began with a depiction of victims recounting the attack on the Nova music festival.

[Related: Survivor recounts experience of Oct. 7 attack at event hosted by Chabad at UCLA]

The play included scenes depicting personal recounts from multiple groups of individuals impacted by the attacks, including a grandfather and a young daughter. These stories ranged from attempting to escape the attacks to finding the dead bodies of their loved ones.

Gold said he hopes Jewish audience members feel strongly about hearing the narratives performed in the verbatim, adding that he hopes to honor the victims’ narratives.

McAleer said during the Q&A that he was inspired to write the story because he felt that many international news outlets covered the aftermath instead of the attack itself. McElhinney said she and McAleer visited Israel to conduct interviews while researching.

Gold said in a speech at the event that he believes the verbatim play is one of the best ways to honor the victims on the one-year anniversary of the attacks, as it shows that Hillel at UCLA stands with Israel and Jewish people.

Some attendees commented on the significance of the performance being a verbatim play and how they personally related to it.

Samson Breitbart, an attendee who grew up near UCLA, said he felt that there was a wave of antisemitism on the internet in the wake of the attacks. He added that he could not imagine himself in a scenario where he was suddenly attacked at a festival.

“As a Jew, I’ve never really felt persecuted until Oct. 7,” Breitbart said.

Alley Bean, an attendee and television actor, said the theatrical reading of the recounts humanized the topic.

“It (Theater) was to touch the souls of the human beings present in the audience on a … deeper level than just reading something,” Bean said. “It’s a brilliant idea to make us really get into the personalization of a huge political issue.”

However, Breitbart said despite the accessibility of its theatrical format, he does not believe the play will affect people’s thoughts on the Israel-Gaza war because most people have already chosen a side.

The theater setting also allows an expression of emotion to communicate what actually occurred, said Ivanka Savic Berglund, an attendee and adjunct professor of neurology.

“Hillel in general – and the Dortort Center – has always done and will continue to do programs that promote dialogue, that promote understanding, that promote learning our histories through art,” Gold said.

Contributing reports by Sam Mulick, features and student life editor.