In the same way that one can think of theater as a substitute temple, Jacob Kahn, the renowned painter and mentor to young Asher Lev, instructs him that art can be a religion.
It is an empowering idea for an Hasidic Jew struggling with the conflict between the faith he was brought up in and the artwork which pours out of him and offends his parents and the orthodox community.
Those seemingly polar opposites of art and religion are at the core of Chaim Potok’s 1972 novel, My Name is Asher Lev, adapted for the stage by Aaron Posner and now receiving an evocative production at GableStage. It is easy to see why this spare, but potent play became an off-Broadway hit, steeped in the struggles of a young man blessed — or cursed — with a gift for drawing.
As Asher, the Brooklyn boy more interested in drawing the world he sees than studying his yeshiva lessons, Israeli-American Etai BenShlomo narrates the play and lets us see the struggle through his eyes. He is supported by Avi Hoffman and Laura Turnbull as his deeply religious and art-wary parents, Aryeh and Rivkeh Lev, as well as several other small, but crucial characters.
In the Hasidic community of the 1950s, many decisions are left to the Rebbe (Hoffman). And when Asher turns 13, rather than discouraging his artistic impulses, the Rebbe sends him to Manhattan to meet and study under Kahn (Hoffman again).
Worldly and blunt, Kahn introduces the boy to such art rudiments as New Testament depictions and, worse, nude female models, much to the dismay of his parents. (One of the more Talmudic hair-splitting sequences is Asher’s attempt to explain to his father the distinction between “naked” and “nude.”)
Asher is torn between honoring his parents — one of the commandments of his faith — and remaining true to his artistic impulses. His parents are similarly conflicted by a pride in their son, as he gains media recognition, wealth and acceptance by major museums, and their shame in the subjects he feels compelled to paint. Those feelings come to a resolution at a one-man show of Asher’s, where his parents encounter his most personal and blasphemous work, his so-called Brooklyn Crucifixion.
The play’s success rests on the shoulders of the actor playing Asher, and BenShlomo handles the assignment with assurance. He flashes back to childhood with ease and later, as a young adult, draws on audience empathy as he conveys the character’s anguish.
Hoffman is aptly stern and unbending, yet loving as Aryeh and, in contrast, passionate and ebullient as Kahn, Asher’s surrogate father. Rivkeh could get lost in the war of wills between father and son, but Turnbull manages to leave her mark on the production as a woman caught in the crossfire.
Joseph Adler directs the play’s Southeastern premiere with a gentle touch, knowing that the familial emotions are so potent they need no underlining. My Name is Asher Lev may be steeped in Judaism, but its personal drama brims with universality.
MY NAME IS ASHER LEV, GableStage at the Biltmore Hotel, 1200 Anastasia Ave., Coral Gables. Through Sunday, Dec. 22. Tickets; $40-$55. Call: (305) 445-1119.