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“Picking Up Stones”

Midtown International Theatre Festival 2026

American Theatre of Actors

Sargent Theatre

3 July 2026

Created and performed by Sandra Laub, “Picking Up Stones” is a plea to remember humanity…especially in the worst of times. This solo show stresses one simple fact: regardless of why people become divided—religion, politics, other staunch beliefs, socioeconomic status, and so on—the people on the other side of that divide are humans too. We cannot forget that, no matter what.

Part history lesson, part personal experience, and part call to action—but all emotionally raw, bare, and vulnerable—“Picking Up Stones” centres around a proud Jewish-American woman as she comes to terms with her Jewish identity after the October 7th Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, and  with the Israeli government’s response.

Without ignoring or discrediting generational trauma, fear, anger, and even how good revenge can feel, this play aims to model compassion, foster empathy, and demonstrate that we all lose when it comes to war. Parents lose children, and vice versa. Families are destroyed. Worlds crumble. Anger brews. Creating a deadly cycle of hate and destruction.

When I was in Hebrew school, my Rabbi used to emphasise one saying that truly stuck with me: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. That is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary”. “Picking Up Stones” is the epitome of what that phrase means. No matter what we pick up along our way—stones, or memories, or fear and trauma— everything ultimately comes down to what we choose to carry with us.

In Judaism, it’s traditional to leave stones on the graves of those you love. It’s a symbol of respect, indicating that a visitor has been there and that the person is not forgotten. Stones are used because, much like our memories of the deceased, they will never wither away and die. “Picking Up Stones” asks us to put down the stones we carry, and leave them as a symbol of respect: don’t forget the past, but allow yourself, and society, to move forward, together. It’s the only way to ever achieve peace.

I decree 5 out of 5 stars.

Jay Michaels Global Communications, LLC

American Theatre of Actors - ATA - est. 1976

I finally had the privilege to see Sandra Laub solo show, Picking Up Stones.

You can see it in NYC at The American Theatre of Actors on West 54th June 26-July 4.

I went into this show with high expectations which were all exceeded. In my view, Picking Up Stones is one of most important pieces of work being performed right now.

I feel a deep need for this show to reach as many people as possible.

I had been wanting to see this performance because the subject matter is close to my heart, and I trusted Sandra as an artist who leads with love and curiosity to hold space for the many souls and voices in Palestine, Israel, and those watching.

My whole life I have been honored to have many Jewish families take me in and share their beautiful traditions, faith, and culture with me. I have close friends born in Israel who have served in the Israeli military. I have people I care about deeply forced out of their families homes of generations who still have the key to their house. I have been welcomed into the homes of Palestinian’s that have lost loved ones and their dignity because of the treatment by the Israeli government.

I have had my friends (not Arab or Jewish) discriminated against by the Israeli government for simply providing education and art to Palestinian children.

Though I have profound love and respect for  the Jewish faith and race and understand that the situation and history is complex, I sympathize with the Palestinian people and see Israel’s action in response to Hamas’s terror attack as genocide.

I am critical in the same way I am of my own country and the atrocities it creates.

No amount of genocide, discrimination, or racism will ever condone the attacks from Hamas on Oct 7, 2023.

Yet, Palestinian’s are still being starved, slaughtered, and raped.

The Hamas attack on innocent Israelis can be unconscionable and it can still be true that the Israeli government will use it as an excuse for genocide.

And it can still be true that here in the US, Israel’s response to Hamas has given antisemitism permission to hang out in its ugliness and innocent Jewish American’s are made to feel unsafe in their communities. A people who are no stranger to discrimination.

I say all this to explain where I am coming from as an audience member. In my life I have been exposed to so many perspectives and so much nuance. Laub brilliantly captures this nuance.

I bow to her for taking on this project. For not shying away from the destruction, the pain, the racism, on both sides. As well as the beauty and love on both sides. The desire to be seen, to be safe, to love, and to be human.

Laub, the storyteller, who plays not only herself, but politicians, mothers, fathers, children, her husband, soldiers, and activists. There is no “narration”, every line is someone’s voice.

Sandra shines as a performer, watching her performance as she plays a wet eyed pregnant Palestinian woman fighting for her and her unborn child’s life, to a smoking politician. Her skills as a performer match her writing. She actively connects to each person in the audience acting as a Shaman, connecting us to each other, and to people in distant lands, people that we judge and talk about from the safety of our homes.

Picking Up Stones leaves no stone unturned.

I was amazed at the vastness of content and the sheer range of perspectives she glides through seamlessly. It’s no easy task this undertaking.

Sandra, a self proclaimed Zionist, who has been part of a group dedicated to understanding the Palestinian perspective well before Oct 7, 2023, gives a voice to the Palestinian people.

After the show Laub asks the audience to share their thoughts and helps to navigate conflicting views. When performing in Europe earlier this month she had a Jewish woman walk out early in the show.

Wherever your sympathies fall you will leave with a deeper understanding.

Any art that makes people from different perspectives and backgrounds expand their empathy while simultaneously upsetting them is doing a service.

See this show. Let your heart be broken and opened.

As someone who hears the word Zionist and attaches a negative connotation to it, I left the show wanting to reexamine my relationship to the word.

We have an obligation to stop the violence. This play is a step towards that and a step towards healing, if possible. A question this shows begs us to ask, and gives us hope that we can.

Kate Downie

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