CULTURE

The First Year review: a bold but uneven focus on Palestinian voices

BÉZNĂ theatre’s 90-minute production at New Diorama in London examines how western media covered the Israel-Gaza war after Hamas’s attack on 7 October 2023. Drawing on testimonies from Gaza, the four-member cast combines satire, song, graphics, historical material, dramatised dialogue and poetry while questioning reporting conditions and the contrast with livestreamed footage.

BÉZNĂ theatre’s The First Year (of the Gaza Genocide in the Media) is a 90-minute production staged at New Diorama in London. The British-Romanian collective’s work is based on testimonies from Gaza and considers how news outlets cover the war when independent foreign journalists are blocked from entering the region.

The production responds to Hamas’s attack on 7 October 2023 and the subsequent actions by Israel in Gaza, which the source describes as involving extensive brutality and deaths. It also compares western press reports with footage livestreamed on phones.

Maryam Abu Khaled, Sara Masry, Luca Kamleh Chapman and Sofia make up the four-member cast. They move between mini-lectures, dramatised dialogue, poetic monologues and meta-theatre, using satire, song, graphics, historical material, absurdism and sincerity.

The review describes the production as passionate and bold in its focus on Palestinian voices, but says its delivery of facts and frequent changes of form can overwhelm it.

THE QUESTIONS THIS EVENT LEAVES BEHIND

How might the absence of independent foreign journalists affect the way audiences assess reports from Gaza?

What editorial choices determine which Palestinian testimonies become part of a theatre production about media coverage?

How do livestreamed images change the relationship between western press reports and audience expectations?

What is gained or lost when a production combines satire, song, history and testimony in addressing war?

How might the production differ if independent foreign journalists were allowed to enter the region?

YOUR QUESTION

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28 September 2026 · 14:46 · 1 sources

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Culture — The First Year (of the Gaza Genocide in the Media) review – bold but uneven focus on Palestinian voices