My Name is Asher Lev
Aaron Posner's 90-minute adaptation speed-reads Chaim Potok's gripping novel. Young Asher has an artistic gift. His father, like Asher, an observant Jew, believes it may come from the Other Side, "where evil lurks." When Asher paints crucifixions, his father becomes convinced. North Coast Rep's staging brings life to a narration-heavy play. Matt Novotny's lighting turns Marty Burnett's minimalist set into an artist's palette. David Ellenstein shows versatility in four roles, including Asher's stern father and Jacob Kahn, for whom art is the religion. As Asher, Craig De Lorenzo braves through long speeches and often gives them emotional depth. Along with thinly drawn characters, the adaptation's other major flaw: it shoves Asher's mother, Rivkeh, off in a corner (even though her suffering is her son's inspiration). Crystal Sershen fills in gaps as the woman trapped "between two different ways of giving meaning to the world."
Worth a try.
When
Ongoing until Sunday, July 3, 2011
Hours
| Sundays, 2pm |
| Wednesdays, 7pm |
| Thursdays, 8pm |
| Fridays, 8pm |
| Saturdays, 8pm |