Seven Jewish Children

The latest conflict in Gaza is yet another tale of unbearable human tragedy to strike a region scarred by war. This highly intelligent but provocative short film is based on a 2009 play by Caryl Churchill. It was originally written in response to the 2008-2009 Israeli strike on Gaza. This only proves that the oldest news is the latest news as an endless cycle turns with ominous regularity. The play was first performed at the Royal Court and polarised opinion as Churchill's plays often do. Such is its power several plays have been written in response.

The film instantly betrays its theatrical origins as a disembodied voice shouts 'action'. The company of actors quickly move around a sparsely populated stage as they deliver tightly packed dialogue. The narrative describes seven distinct episodes in Jewish history and essentially asks two questions. What do we tell our children about the past and how does it affect the present and future? Key phrases are repeated throughout the piece. The characters plaintively cry 'tell her' or 'don't tell her'. Shouldn’t history reflect the truth however painful or inconvenient it might be. Does it serve any real purpose when it’s told in such a selective manner?

It's a huge subject reduced to a microcosm and then crammed into the tiniest of formats. The stand-off between Israel and Palestine is ingrained with complexity and could never be distilled in a fifteen minute film. Its religious, historical, political and economic dimensions create a melting pot of ideas. With so many moving parts the rights and wrongs are more difficult to examine. The film makes no secret of where its sympathies lie and deserves credit for picking a side. But in so doing sacrifices any semblance of perspective and balance.

Seven Jewish Children is eloquent and highly sophisticated storytelling. But there’s a nagging suspicion that only one side of the story is being told. The past reveals varying levels of good, bad and downright ugly. So there's no harm in providing the full picture. In times of war nobody has totally clean hands; the reality is that people suffer when too much power is in the hands of too few. This could be a brilliant piece of theatre; it just needs to recognise the grey areas of human existence.