It wouldn’t be quite accurate to describe Tovah Feldshuh’s powerful portrayal of the late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir as a “one-woman show” just because Ms. Feldshuh is the only person on stage.

She assumes the characters and voices of 40 other people during the course of Golda’s Balcony at A.C.T.’s Geary Theater.

“This may be our last hurrah,” the accomplished four-time Tony nominee says. “It’s the last time we’ll be using all the original Broadway accouterments, such as staff and scenery.” There will be no national tour.

It’s amazing how many Americans remain unaware of the life of Golda Meir, a poor, Russian-born Jewish girl who moved to America, became a Milwaukee schoolteacher, and later, the Israeli ambassador to the former Soviet Union and finally, in 1969, the prime minister of Israel at the age of 70.

The ambassadorship assignment must have been sweet revenge for Meir who, as girl in Kiev, saw for herself the anti-Semitic thuggery, the pogroms, and the mob with cudgels and knives chasing Jews with shouts of “You Christ-killers!”

“Golda’s life was divided deeply,” Feldshuh recalls. “She was married, had three children but Israel was her primogeniture.” And Zionism was her passion. The play was written by William Gibson, who is now 91 years old. The author of The Miracle Worker also worked with Feldshuh on the production of Golda’s Balcony.

In a film documentary about the show, The Journey To Golda’s Balcony, Gibson observes: “The amount of detail that Tovah’s brought into the performance gives colors to many moments that I didn’t write. I mean that’s her art. I was very smitten by the whole characterization that she has created.”

Feldshuh, whose intelligence grabs you right away, certainly did her homework. She traveled to Israel to retrace Golda’s steps – and sometimes at great peril.

“I was accompanied by a former Mossad agent who took charge of our route through the country. At one point, he said we had to use the road that cuts through the middle of the country, not the seaside route I wanted. I was unhappy with that until I learned we had just missed a bus that was bombed. Some soldiers were killed.”

Israel, to this day, remains under a state of siege. “The Jews are exhausted,” Feldshuh says. “It’s not natural for a Jew to carry a gun. A Jew would rather debate you to death.”

How much should a theatergoer know about the story of how Israel, after 2,000 years, was finally established as a religious state?

Feldshuh replies, “The play is densely historical. It’s not a song and dance show, so I suggest the audience eat lightly before and remain attentive.”

The story is riveting. At the center of the work remains a great question: “How close was Prime Minister Meir to authorizing the use of nuclear weapons as Israel was losing the Yom Kippur War in 1973? With attacking Syrians on one side and Egyptians on the other – with Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia backing them – and with Russian surface-to-air missiles annihilating the air force, the country’s survival was hanging in the balance. The title Golda’s Balcony has a chilling significance. And I won’t give it away.

As for Feldshuh, the run means a lot. “I’m not in San Francisco to get rich. I’m here to do this play. This is the greatest role of my career.”

It’s a rare chance to see a great performance about a most extraordinary woman, the lioness who protected her beloved Israel. “I want to honor her memory,” Feldshuh explains. “I want to disappear me as much as possible to bring her forth. There are parts of me just like Golda and there are parts that are different but the part I feel very alive with is her heart.”

Golda’s Balcony runs at A.C.T.’s Geary Theater, 415 Geary Street (at Mason) through Saturday, Aug. 13. Tickets are available at the Geary Box Office, by phone at (415) 749-2ACT or on the Web, www.sf-act.org.