Jonathan Spector’s ‘Birthright’ puts Jewish history and memory on the stage - opinion

Tony Award-winning playwright Jonathan Spector's new play 'Birthright' follows six American Jews over 18 years, exploring their friendships and evolving relationships to Israel before and after Oct. 7, 2023. The play's first act, set in 2006, features a character named Lev who introduces the concept of historiography through Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi's masterwork 'Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory.' Spector dedicated the play to his father, military historian Ronald H. Spector.

Tony Award-winning playwright Jonathan Spector's new play 'Birthright' follows six American Jews over 18 years, exploring how their friendships, Jewish identities, and relationships to Israel evolve in the years before and after Oct. 7, 2023. The play's first act, set in 2006, features a character named Lev who introduces the concept of historiography through Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi's masterwork 'Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory.' Spector was commissioned by Miami New Drama's artistic director Michel Hausmann to write a play about this moment in American Jewish life. The play premiered in Miami in 2025 and recently completed an extended off-Broadway run at MCC Theater. Spector dedicated the play to his father, military historian Ronald H. Spector. The article, written by American University Professor Pamela S. Nadell, notes that Spector considers the struggle between collective memory and history a 'touchpoint' for the play.