The Heroic Poet

Hannah Senesh grew up safe: The daughter of assimilated Jews, she lived in an affluent section of Budapest. But as antisemitism began to flourish in the late 1930s, Senesh emigrated to life on a kibbutz in the British Mandate of Palestine in the Middle East. As Europe lurched toward war, she threw herself into danger. Senesh joined a British para-military group that plotted a daring parachute mission into occupied Yugoslavia in order to rescue Hungarian Jews. Senesh was soon captured but refused to betray her unit. An ardent diarist and poet, Senesh recorded her thoughts and emotional life up until the day she was executed by the firing squad. David Schechter's one-woman play Hannah Senesh draws on these writings to illuminate the brief life of a heroine who gave everything for her country and her people. The New Jewish Theatre presents Hannah Senesh at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday (December 5 through 21) at the Wool Studio Theatre on the campus of the Jewish Community Center (2 Millstone Center Drive, Creve Coeur; 314-442-3283 or www.newjewishtheatre.org). There is one 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, December 22. Admission is $35 to $39.
Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays. Starts: Dec. 5. Continues through Dec. 22, 2013