Six months later, Ami Dayan is still standing up. Not for Israel. Not for Gaza.

“For humanity,” said the longtime Boulder playwright and theatermaker who has turned a remarkable 20-minute play written amid the breakout of the Oct. 7 war into something of a movement. Why?

“Because this is a conversation that does not happen anywhere else,” said Dayan, who has now hosted nine community gatherings since February. Next: 7 p.m. Aug. 25 at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder. It’s the third time he’s presenting it at the Dairy, where it has been particularly well-received.

Audiences first watch a reading of “How to Be a Humanist After a Massacre in 17 Steps,” a visceral tutorial written by Israeli playwright Maya Arad Yasur in the raw days following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and its ongoing bloody fallout, which has now claimed more than 40,000 lives.

The playlet is a short “how-to” course on maintaining one’s humanity in the aftermath of barbarism on both sides. That is followed by several short Palestinian poems.

Then comes a compelling panel discussion titled “The Forbidden Conversation,” which gathers rotating local religious and community leaders with a broad range of perspectives on the conflict.

Dayan’s agenda is transparent: He wants to make the fighting and the suffering stop – now. And if we can’t fix it, then the least we can do is talk about it. “Since we cannot mend what we cannot honestly discuss,” as he puts it, “it would be wise to discuss it honestly.”

“Standing for Humanity” – Dayan’s umbrella term for the evening – has been received by some as life-changing and by others as utterly unacceptable – namely by those who will never support a ceasefire.

The Oct. 7 war (which began decades before Oct. 7), has now passed 300 days since Palestinian militants attacked Israel, killing 1,143 people, mostly civilians living peacefully on a kibbutz. Israel responded with a relentless invasion that has killed more than 39,000 Gazans. Hostages have been taken on both sides who have been subjected to unimaginable abuses. Most people who are directly impacted one way or the other have taken intractable positions.    

“We’re trying to focus on what is it that prevents Israelis and Jews from being able to see more than one horror at one time?” Dayan said. “Yes, Oct. 7 was a horror. There’s nothing else you can call it. But that cannot dictate what we become. That does not justify becoming monsters and criminals ourselves.”

Dayan’s largest event to date was May 23 at the Arvada Center. And while almost all of the feedback was positive, one couple walked out during the conversation in protest of the participation of two Arab-American women on the panel.

When the event was first announced, this couple informed CEO Philip Sneed they would never again donate to the Arvada Center. They told Sneed they had Israeli relatives who were massacred on the kibbutz. Sneed understood but still encouraged them to come. He considered it a victory that they did.

“They made it through the play, and they made it through the Palestinian poems,” said Sneed.  “But hearing a call for a ceasefire was a bridge too far for them.”

Neither Sneed nor Dayan are about to judge anyone who has relatives among the victims on either side. But Sneed wants them to know that Dayan’s program is not meant to be pro-Israel or pro-Gaza, “It’s meant for people to hear, as one of the lines in the play powerfully states, that there are mothers on both sides.” he said. 

Eva Sax-Bolder, a rabbi at New York’s B’nai Jeshurun, said the totality of Dayan’s program “reflects the complexity of the world we are living in, and offers hope for how to deeply listen to the pain, hurt and suffering while sharing sparks of hope for the world that can be.”

The Aug. 25 panel in Boulder will include Rabbi Ruth E. Gelfarb from the Congregation Har HaShem; Dr. Herzl Melmed of the Jewish National Fund; Dr. Hilary Falb Kalisman, teacher of Jewish Studies at CU Boulder; former Buntport Theater ensemble member Evan Weissman, now a member of the Colorado Jewish Voice for Peace and founder of a “civics health club” called Warm Cookies of the Revolution; and Oriel Eisner of the Center for Jewish Nonviolence.

“I think the vast majority of people will appreciate that the only motive behind all this is an attempt through art to find a way to generate sympathy and empathy for people on both sides who are caught up in this conflict,” Sneed said. 

Dayan promised those who come only one thing: “A wider perspective of what’s happening.”

Denver’s Brasch wins McNally honor

Denver playwright Jake Brasch’s new play “The Reservoir” has not even premiered yet, and it is already helping him to win major prizes. Brasch has just been named the recipient of the Terrence McNally Recovery Commission, an award dedicated to the late, revered playwright (“Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman”) and inspired by his sobriety journey.

Brasch is a self-described “queer, sober Jewish clown from Colorado” and a graduating playwriting fellow at The Juilliard School in New York City.

“The Reservoir” is a semi-autobiographical dramedy about the year Brasch moved home to Colorado to get sober. It debuts Jan. 17- March 9 as part of the DCPA Theatre Company’s upcoming season. “The Reservoir” is part of an historic partnership with L.A.’s Geffen Playhouse and Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, which will also present the play next season in what is called in the biz “a rolling world premiere.”

Brasch’s prize, administered by Florida Studio Theatre, includes a $10,000 stipend and a mentorship from big-shot playwright Craig Lucas (“Prelude to a Kiss”).

“Terrence McNally is one of my favorite playwrights, and he was a hero in the queer and recovery communities,” said Brasch. “I am so grateful for his words and his legacy and this incredible opportunity.”

And finally …

Harp lovers, take note: Grammy Award-winning composer Michael Daugherty’s new record, “Harp of Ages,” has been released on Naxos Records and is available for download on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. Daugherty composed the album specifically for the Colorado Symphony’s principal harpist, Courtney Hershey Bress. The album was recorded with the entire Colorado Symphony back in May at Boettcher Concert Hall, during the piece’s world premiere conducted by Andrew Litton.