Asher Lev VIII: Review

A scene from the Teatron Theatre play My Name is Asher Lev. (Photo: Suri Epstein)

The Jewish experience in 20th century North America was often a battleground between the forces of tradition and modernity. My Name is Asher Lev, the 1972 novel by Chaim Potok, examined this conflict through the story of a young gifted artist whose creative drive leads to heartbreaking conflict with his strict Chassidic family.

The Teatron Theatre’s latest offering is Aaron Posner’s stage adaptation of Potok’s landmark novel. With its outstanding acting, stark set and realistic wardrobe, My Name is Asher Lev is a gripping production that hooks the audience with its pathos and tension until its wrenching climax.

Set in 1950’s Brooklyn, the play follows the internal and familial conflict experienced by Asher Lev starting from his early childhood. Young Asher sneaks visits to the art museum, where he secretly sketches Christian-themed paintings. His father’s discovery of his sketchbook threatens to completely destroy the delicate equilibrium of this fragile family.

The talented Geoff Kolomayz as Asher Lev, intersperses scenes and monologues, which relate this painful struggle between his deep attachment to his traditional family and his artistic calling. Kolomayz deftly slips back and forth into scenes of Asher Lev’s family and professional life as we watch his struggles grow and poison the relationships in his family. Kolomayz’s portrayal is riveting as it seamlessly incorporates expressions of innocence, passion and confusion.

Asher Lev’s father Aryeh is played by Mark Albert, an accomplished actor with three other roles in the play. As Asher’s father, he travels the world in service of his rebbe, and is incapable of understanding his son’s burning artistic passion.

“There are similarities to the Fiddler on the Roof theme,” Albert told the Jewish Tribune. “The challenge is where can you depart from religion and remain and keep your faith.”

Asher’s mother Rivkeh, played by the talented Tracey Beltrano, tries to support her son, but is ultimately limited by the fact that she belongs to a community that is completely removed from the individualist ethic of the 20th century artist.

The anguished Asher Lev, meanwhile, is torn between love for his family and the demand of his artistic genius. He describes his gift as ‘demonic but divine.’ Explaining his inability to communicate with his father, the tortured young man cries out to his mother, “it’s like explaining colours to a blind man.”

“This particular play fits right into our mandate,” said Ari Weisberg, Teatron’s artistic director. “We are the only theatre in Canada that not only focuses on Jewish themes but also does that while preserving Jewish values.”

My Name is Asher Lev will be at the Toronto Centre for the Arts from Nov. 7 through Nov. 18.

Article Title: Play Tackles Forces of Tradition and Modernity

Taken from the Jewish Tribune, Nov 6 2012.  Suri Epstein, Correspondent