History has a way of returning when we least expect it. More than a century after the Dreyfus Affair—the political scandal in which a Jewish French army officer was falsely accused of treason in 1894—exposed the fragility of Jewish belonging in modern Europe, many of the questions it raised remain surprisingly relevant. Questions of identity, belonging, memory and the stories we inherit continue to shape the world around us. Those questions sit at the center of Dreyfus In Rehearsal Again, a new production by New Jewish Theater, running May 29 through June 3 at The Tank in New York City. Drawing on French playwright Jean-Claude Grumberg’s acclaimed work, the production layers a play about the Dreyfus Affair, a troupe of Jewish actors rehearsing it in 1931 Poland, and a contemporary New York cast wrestling with many of the same debates today. The result is a funny, provocative and uncomfortably current exploration of how history echoes across generations—and why some questions never seem to leave the stage. Below, read a reflection on the play by Yonatan Esterkin, founder and artistic director of NYC’s New Jewish Theater.

In 1894, the Jewish French officer Alfred Dreyfus was accused of treason and of passing military secrets to Germany. In a military trial marked by forgery, public hysteria and deep-rooted antisemitism, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island. France, which for many Jews symbolized enlightenment, equality and emancipation, suddenly revealed its darker side: even in the heart of European culture, a Jew could be turned overnight into an outsider, a traitor and a scapegoat.

The affair shook Europe and had a profound impact on the emerging Zionist movement. For Theodor Herzl, who covered the trial as a journalist in Vienna and Paris, it demonstrated that full integration of Jews into European society could not guarantee safety or belonging. From this crisis, the idea of a Jewish national home gained renewed urgency. Years later, it became clear that Dreyfus was innocent; he was exonerated, released from prison and reinstated in the French army.

Zionism and the Present
Today, the word “Zionism” has become highly charged and deeply contested. For many, it expresses the Jewish right to self-determination and to a national homeland. For others, it is associated with nationalism, power, occupation or Israeli state policy. In the Western world, especially after October 7, many Jews feel that identification with Israel or with a basic Zionist position can provoke suspicion, hostility or delegitimization. Thus, the Dreyfus question returns in new forms: can a Jew be fully part of a liberal society and still be perceived as an outsider?

Jean-Claude Grumberg’s Play
The play “The Dreyfus Affair” by Jean-Claude Grumberg, a Holocaust survivor and one of the major postwar French playwrights, follows a troupe of amateur Jewish actors in Poland in 1931 who decide to stage a production about the Dreyfus trial of 1896. During rehearsals, they struggle with the question of whether what happened to a Jew in enlightened France could also happen to them, and whether staging such a provocative play is an artistic necessity or a real danger. The original text carries a sharp dramatic irony: the audience knows the fate that will soon befall Polish Jewry, while the characters in 1931 cannot even imagine it.

A Contemporary New York Production
The current production by the New Jewish Theater of New York, presented at The Tank in Manhattan, adds a third layer of theatrical construction: a play within a play within a play. Created through a collaborative process between director Yonatan Esterkin and the acting ensemble, it uses Grumberg’s text as a foundation for a new work. The production shifts between sharp satirical comedy and parody, and moments of painful confrontation that resonate with the experiences of Jews in the contemporary Western world. A group of 2026 New York actors rehearse the Grumberg play while embodying the 1931 Polish troupe performing a play about the Dreyfus trial. These layered identities blur the boundaries between past and present, performance and reality.

When History Becomes the Present
The process raises urgent questions: what is the condition of Jews today? How is the history of antisemitism connected to contemporary attitudes toward Zionism? Are Judaism and Israel perceived as one and the same? Who has the right to tell a Jewish story, and when does representation become appropriation? What does “home” mean for Jews living between identities, histories, and geographies?

Ultimately, the central question remains: is the Dreyfus Affair merely a historical episode, or is it still deeply relevant to Jews in New York today?

About NYC’S New Jewish Theater
New Jewish Theater is a new non profit initiative dedicated to creating bold contemporary Jewish theater that engages deeply with history, identity, culture, and the urgent issues of our moment. In these challenging times, provoking new questions and uncovering ancient ones, we felt the urgency to have a place of our own where we can give these questions the stage; To reconnect and refamiliarize ourselves, and others, with the robust heritage of canonic texts by Jewish writers and with the timeless and universal values of Judaism, as well as to discover contemporary new thinkers and diverse voices, to help us achieve a better understanding of our identity and culture as a people.

Yonatan Esterkin is a Tel Aviv born writer, director, professor, translator and public speaker with a career spanning over 20 years of award winning productions in Israel, Europe and the US. After years of working as a journalist and theater critic for leading publications in Israel, Esterkin transitioned to directing and teaching both acting technique and theater history at Israel’s four top acting schools. He later continued to a career in directing at the country’s leading repertory public theatres such as the Haifa Theater (where he also headed the International Relations division and founded the Children Creating Theater program), The Cameri theater of Tel Aviv (Israel’s biggest theater) and the Habima National theatre, as well as The Yiddishpiel theater, which is a passion project for him, among others. In the last few years his directing career took him to Europe, where he was invited to direct in different public theatres in Slovenia, including the National Theater. His Slovenian one-woman-show The Child behind the Eyes, won Best International Show at the United Solo Festivals in NYC in 2022. Esterkin recently directed The Jewish Dog which had a long run at The Wallis in Los Angeles and the US premiere of the bitter comedy “Yaakobi and Leidental” by Israel’s most celebrated playwright, Hanoch Levin, at The Odyssey Theatre. With NJT Esterkin directed and produced Shelter (2024) and Eating (2025).

Dreyfus In Rehearsal Again
May 29, 2026-June 3, 2026 8:30 p.m.
The Tank
312 W 36th St New York, NY, 10018
Special guest appearance by renowned French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy on June 3 closing night.
Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/47t3e8kb

*Photo credits: NJT (PR)