“My Name is Asher Lev”

Posted by Gail M. Burns - August 2011

“Art is a lie which makes us realize the truth.”

- Pablo Picasso

It is not surprising that I, a woman who spends an inordinate amount of time thinking and reading and writing about theatre art and theatre artists, should adore a play that speaks seriously, intellectually, and spiritually about being an artist and making art. If those are not topics that interest you then this is not the show for you, but I was thoroughly engrossed from the first moment to the last by the characters, images and ideas in this wonderful play. I want to go see it again! I want to listen to those people and think about those ideas and listen for new ones! Luckily, Barrington Stage has extended its run by a week, so all of us have extra opportunities to go.

My Name is Asher Lev is adapted by Aaron Posner from the 1972 novel of the same name by Herman Harold “Chaim” Potok (1929-2002). It had its premiere at the Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia in 2009. There, as here, Posner directed the piece himself. He has a very clear idea of how he wants it staged, which he elucidates in his author’s note at the opening of the acting version of the script.

Potok set his novel in an Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn in the 1950’s, when Joseph Stalin was persecuting the Jews in Russia. Both Asher’s father and his mother’s brother are working to effect change in that land far away, and his uncle loses his life in his work. The loss of her brother inspires Asher’s mother to study and take over his work, an unusual act for a woman of her time and culture with a young child. Asher tells us the story of his life between the ages of 5-19, and so it is a coming of age story, but because Asher is a prodigiously talented artist as well as a devout Hasid (the word literally means “loving kindness”) and the intelligent, thoughtful son of intelligent, thoughtful, educated parents, his issues are beyond the ordinary.

I was so very happy to come across a coming of age story that isn’t all about sex! Sex is lovely, but it is ubiquitous, a common denominator. We are all sexual beings. Sex isn’t what makes us unique individuals. My Name is Asher Lev is about a young man’s search for his own unique self as he grapples with the special artistic gift that distinguishes him. And it is about how he integrates that artistic self with his spiritual self because he chooses to remain an observant Hasidic Jew.

I often comment negatively on plays which tell more than they show, but Posner was inspired by the ancient art of storytelling, and he has the Asher character narrate his own life, tell his own story. Often he stands outside the scene he is describing, watching it with us and contributing only his voice in conversation. This works well because we need to be privy to Asher’s inner voice and the storytelling tradition is integral to the Jewish ethos.

Posner, who has also dramatized Potok’s first novel, The Chosen, has assembled a fine cast here. Adam Green is intensely focused as Asher, grabbing and holding our attention from the first word to the last, both of which are his. Daniel Cantor plays all the other male roles – Asher’s father, Aryeh Lev; his uncle, Yitzchok Lev; the Rebbe; and Jacob Kahn, the Jewish artist the Rebbe arranges to have tutor Asher – and Renata Friedman plays all the female characters – Asher’s mother, Rivkeh Lev; art dealer Anna Schaeffer; and Rachel, the artists’ model Jacob employs to pose for Asher. Both performers are skilled and likeable. Cantor shifts fluidly from the stern and humorless Aryeh to the broad and comical Jacob. Friedman’s Rivkeh is particularly moving as she faces a crossroads of between the faith she loves and the worldly calling she experiences when her brother is killed.

The little bit of titillation in this play comes from the fact that Hasids view the human body as private and sacred and Asher must study and draw and paint nudes. His parents refuse to attend any showings of his art in which nudes are displayed. And yet Friedman appears nude as Asher’s artists’ model. I understand that she was playing a different character and the nudity was indeed presented in a tasteful and non-erotic manner, just as it is when models pose for artists. But all I could think was, “That’s his MOTHER! He’s seeing his MOTHER NUDE!” I found it jarring.

Because these are people Asher cares about, I cared about them. Because they are articulate and intelligent, I enjoyed hearing about their interests and opinions. I am a goische schiksa, which is about the extent of my Yiddish, and I entered the theatre knowing nothing about Hasidic Judaism – and it didn’t matter. Barrington Stage gives you a little glossary of Yiddish, Hebrew, and Jewish words in the program, but I never needed to refer to it. I understood these people, what they were saying and what they were feeling, and I felt comfortable looking through a little theatrical window and learning more about their culture and their world.

How can Asher be true to himself, to his parents, to his faith? What compromises will he have to make in order to be a good artist, a good son, and a good Jew?

“When I was young I would often look at myself in the mirror for a long time. Not for vanity. But because I was so curious about the person on the other side. I would look into my own eyes, searching for…myself in my face. The real me. Asher Lev, I would sat in my mind. Asher Lev. My Name Is Asher Lev. And I would wonder what those words meant. I would wonder who I was supposed to be. What I was supposed to become. As long as I could remember I’d been doing that.
(Beat. To the audience. To sum up…)
My Name is Asher Lev, son of Aryeh and Rivkeh Lev.
I am an observant Jew.
I am an artist.
My gift is from the Ribbono Shel Oylom and the Sitra Acra – it is demonic and divine. And it carries with it the power to hurt and the power to heal.
My Name is Asher Lev.”

This speech comes at the close of the play. The Ribbono Shel Oylom is the Deity and the Sitra Acra is its polar opposite. It is not quite accurate to suggest you could replace them with the words Heaven and Hell, but that will help you understand their meaning. Asher’s gift is both his greatest blessing and his greatest curse. If you have a gift or a calling – and I hope that you do – you know that there are sacrifices to be made and trials to be suffered in order to live it fully.

Asher feels called to express his conflicts using the artistic symbolism of the crucifixion. His two paintings – Brooklyn Crucifixion #1 and Brooklyn Crucifixion #2 – are hailed as his masterworks. The person he places on the cross is his mother, with he and his father standing to her right and her left. This is not a popular choice for an Hasidic Jewish artist and he suffers for choosing to be true to his art when what the world sees is him disparaging his family and his faith.

Potok, who referred to …Asher Lev as his most autobiographical novel, was born into an Orthodox Jewish family but was ordained as a Conservative Rabbi. He was intrigued by and actively lived the ongoing tensions between tradition and individualism and religion and art all his life. During the writing of My Name is Asher Lev (he wrote a sequel in 1990 entitled The Gift of Asher Lev) he became so engrossed in the struggle of his young protagonist that he painted his own Brooklyn Crucufixion. I thought of posting a photograph of that painting with this review, but decided to follow Posner’s stage directions that Asher’s art should never be shown.

Posner also directs that the setting for this play should be beautiful – not extravagant, but beautiful. Artistic. As you can see from Kevin Sprague’s equally artistic photographs, scenic designer Daniel Conway and lighting designer John Hoey have done just that. Costume designer Olivera Gajic is not allowed much scope for her work – Hasidic men wear only black and the women are constrained by rules of modesty – but she blends the subtlety of her palette with the painterly splendor of the sets and lighting to create a cohesive whole. Posner is adamant that none of the male characters wear payos – the long earlocks that typically mark an Hasidic Jewish man – but all other outward symbols of faith – yarmulkes, tzitzits, a tichel for Rivkeh, etc.

If you are a person who likes to ponder important topics, I cannot recommend this production too highly. And Barrington Stage has developed an audience who obviously does enjoy this kind of thoughtful questioning of cosmic subjects with the success of Freud’s Last Session, The Whipping Man, Going to St. Ives, and The Best of Enemies. If you enjoyed any or all of those, buy tickets NOW! And look for me to write more deeply on the question of being called to follow a muse who is both demonic and divine, who can both hurt and heal (could there be a better description of the work of a theatre critic??) as I have more time this fall.

Click HERE for a complete photo gallery for this production.

My Name Is Asher Lev is performed at Barrington Stage Company’s Stage 2, 36 Linden St., Pittsfield, MA from August 18-September 11. The show runs 90 minutes with no intermission and is suitable for ages 14 and up. Opening Night: Sunday, August 21 at 3pm. Performance times are Tuesday through Friday at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 4pm and 8pm, and Thursdays and Sundays at 3pm. Added matinee performance Friday, September 2 at 3pm. Please note there will be no Thursday matinee on August 18. Tickets: $15-$39. Youth 18 and under $15 all performances except Saturday evening. For tickets, call the Box Office at 413-236-8888.

FREE EVENT “Conversations with…” From Page to Stage with Aaron Posner on Friday, August 19 at 4 p.m. Playwright/Director Aaron Posner will discuss how a modern classic novel such as Chaim Potok’s My Name Is Asher Lev is adapted into a dramatic form for the stage. Posner will discuss the process beginning with the first idea through the play’s premiere on the stage. While all “Conversations with…” events are free, reservations are highly recommended. All seating is general admission. For tickets, call the Box Office at 413-236-8888.

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