The trial of the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was held in Jerusalem in 1961. It was one of the defining events in the history of Israel. At the heart of the drama are the efforts of prosecutor, Gideon Hausner to expose the machinery behind the mass extermination of European Jewry, and to prove Eichmann’s central role in it. Eichmann denies the evil attributed to him, and portrays himself as a minor bureaucrat, only responsible for organizing the transport of Jews to the death camps. Meanwhile, the Israeli government wishes to prevent legal debate on issues that might damage its political objectives, while the German government pressures Israel to limit the scope of the trial, so that Germany will not be held responsible for the war crimes of the Nazi regime.

The play premiered at the National Theatre in Bucharest in May 2024, and was adapted by the playwright into an opera libretto, which was produced by the National Opera in Bucharest in 2025.

Motti Lerner is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter, who focuses on political, historical, and social themes. His plays have been produced by The Cameri Theatre, Habima, Beit Lessin, Haifa Theatre, the Khan Theatre, Jaffa Theatre, and Tzavta. Selected plays include: Kastner, The Murder of Isaac, Hard Love, The Admission, Pollard, On the Edge, and Golda.

Selected U.S. productions: Theatre J – Passing the Love of Women, Pangs of the Messiah, Benedictus, The Admission; The Murder of Isaac, Center Stage; Silk Road Rising, Theatre of Ideas; Hard Love, TACT; After the War, Mosaic Theatre Company. His work has been produced in Germany, Austria, Italy, and Romania. Recent selected productions: After Her Death, Betrayal in Wartime, The Hearing. Screenplays: The Kastner Trial, Bus 300, The Silence of the Sirens, Altalena, Spring 1941, Kapo in Jerusalem, The Institute.

Ilan Ronen is a central and influential director in the Israeli theatre. He studied at Beit Zvi School for the Performing Arts. Ronen shaped the stag language of Israel’s repertory theatre. He worked as Artistic director of The Khan Theatre in Jerusalem 1975-1982, The Cameri Theatre 1984-1992, the Young Company of Habima 1996-2004, and Habima National Theatre 2004-2016. Ronen directed extensively at most of Israel’s major theatres, as well as abroad. Selected work: Catch-22, The Idiot, Waiting for Godot, The Jewish Wars, and many more.

In November 2011, Ronen was elected President of the Union of the Theatres of Europe, becoming the first Israeli in that position. The appointment reflected his distinguished standing not only in Israel, but also on the international theatre arena.