Gregg Weiner, Adam Grupper, Joanna Glushak, and Coby Getzug Photo by Daniel Rader

Adam Koch's set, at colorful Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean, is sumptuous. All the furniture looks almost comforting. The play opens with some light-hearted banter, as Ruth (Joanna Glushak) has decided to bring her extended family, in November, 2024, to the opulent spot 13 months after Hamas attacked Israel and Israel responded with ultimate force. She and her husband Mitchell (Adam Grupper) joke about his hearing aids and whether or not he chooses to tune in or bypass conversation. Ruth welcomes Shabbat with a touching blessing as she lights candles.

Their two sons are boldly outspoken. David (Gregg Weiner) is a fundraiser for IDF or Israel Defense Forces. His brother, Aaron (Coby Getzug), lives in Oakland with partner Zephyr (William DeMeritt). Aaron is vociferously anti-Zionist. Their sister, Bex (Dani Stoller), is filled with grief and wonders why so many Israelis have died. She lives with partner Dana (Shira Alon), who was born in Israel and has a complex, intriguing past. She and Bex have moved from Israel to America. David's wife Maria (Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer) is a Columbia University professor who converted to Judaism.

Throughout the two-hour performance the characters attempt to fight their way through storms of acute, pressing feelings and a fast-approaching hurricane. Ruth is a strong woman who advocates for social justice causes as well as peace within her family. David, the man managing the family's estate, has little sympathy for Aaron, who recovered from addiction. These oppositional siblings struggle and grapple (thanks, here, to fight director Lee Soroko). The production flashes back to previous years from time to time. That gracefully allows for narrative and story to provide further insight relevant to the current day.

Bryce Cutler's upper-level projection design allows theatregoers to keep up with time shifts. Sound designer Andy Evan Cohen, utilizing Salomon Lerner's music and Lisa Gutkin's quite audible violin, adds a dynamic component. Solomon Weisbard's lighting becomes intense, even ferocious. The first hour of the production ends with a sensory shock.

Gelman is Miami New Drama Artistic Director and he has mentioned TV's "White Lotus" and "Succession" as when speaking of The Zionists. Beginning moments are charming (Mitch even does some singing) before Ruth becomes desperate to keep her family, including her children's partners, together. Moreover, everyone is trapped within two contexts: irreconcilable beliefs pertinent to Palestine and Israel; and the brutal, smashing storm, complete with lashing rain and violent wind, just beyond their interior suite. Aaron and David do not seem able to locate common ground for their positions. Each is committed and dramatically holding fast to what each genuinely feels is authentic and accurate.

The entire experience is continuously engrossing, sometimes wrenching. Coby Getzug's Aaron, stubborn and unyielding, will not step down. This actor, who has appeared several times on Broadway, absolutely demands one's attention. Gregg Weiner personifies a David who is obstinate but caring. With a number of TV and film credits, the talented Weiner just lives within his character. The impressive Joanna Glushak (at Barrington Stage two times previously) has a long list of Broadway credits including one with the original cast of Les Misérables. Her Ruth is appealing and well-meaning, one who is daunted but not defeated by complex circumstance. She, in the end, is a survivor.

S. Asher Gelman was an actor and choreographer before turning to playwriting. He has an extensive dance background, having begun staging dance shows when in middle school. The Zionists is an audacious, honest work, one which is brave and sometimes explosive. He creates characters who are resolute as they courageously speak what each considers credible. The playwright does not profess to have answers nor does he attempt to resolve political conflict.

The Zionists is startlingly stimulating and it snags an observer from Ruth's very first forthright words, which are: "Well, Mitchell, I was right."

The Zionists: A Family Storm runs through July 3, 2026, at Barrington Stage Company, 30 Union St., Pittsfield MA. For tickets and information, please call 413-242-6411 or visit barringtonstageco.org.