When Strawberries Bloom: The Creation of Golda Meir

When Strawberries Bloom: The Creation of Golda Meir began with a desire to look beyond the familiar public image of one of the 20th century’s most consequential leaders. Written by internationally produced playwright Mike Broemmel, the play explores not simply what Golda Meir accomplished, but how an ordinary young woman became capable of extraordinary leadership.

Long before she served as prime minister of Israel, Golda was Goldie Mabovitch—a determined child born in Kyiv who experienced poverty, antisemitism and the fear of violent persecution. After immigrating with her family to the United States, she came of age in Milwaukee, where her political convictions and commitment to the Jewish people began to take shape. Her journey eventually carried her to Denver, where a pivotal period in her young life broadened her intellectual and political horizons.

The play’s title comes from a formative moment in that journey. Strawberries—simple, vivid and filled with the promise of another season—become a metaphor for hope, endurance and the future Golda believed could be built through courage and collective action.

Rather than presenting a conventional historical biography, When Strawberries Bloom brings audiences into Golda’s memories. The woman known throughout the world as Golda Meir looks back upon the experiences that formed her: her family’s flight from danger, her struggle for independence, her awakening political consciousness and her growing determination to help create a homeland for the Jewish people.

The play received its world premiere in 2025 at Denver’s iconic Historic Elitch Theatre, a landmark with its own extraordinary place in Colorado’s cultural history. That historic setting provided a fitting beginning for a theatrical work devoted to preserving history and bringing an influential woman’s personal story vividly to life.

The production features Selena A. Naumoff as Golda Meir under the direction of Deb Flomberg-Rollins. Through an intimate theatrical format, Golda speaks directly to the audience—not as a distant figure preserved in history books, but as a daughter, immigrant, activist and woman confronting the consequences of the choices she made.

The play became part of the Iconic Women Theatre Series, an ongoing theatrical project devoted to restoring remarkable women to the center of their own stories. Its development has also drawn upon the history preserved by the Golda Meir House Museum on the Auraria Campus in Denver. That connection is especially meaningful because the house is the only known surviving American residence associated with Golda Meir.

At its heart, however, the play is not an argument about politics. It is the story of becoming—the story of how hardship, education, family, faith and personal conviction shaped a young immigrant into an international leader.

Now returning as part of the 2027 Iconic Women Theatre Series Denver Season, When Strawberries Bloom continues its theatrical journey before new audiences. Its message remains as immediate as ever: history is not made only by people born into power. It is also made by ordinary people who refuse to surrender their hope for a better world.

When Strawberries Bloom: The Creation of Golda Meir is a testament to courage, perseverance and the enduring ability of one human life to alter the course of history.