Theater LaB Houston’s production of My Name Is Asher Lev, the theater adaptation of Chaim Potok’s poignant novel about a young Jewish painter in post-WWII Brooklyn, finds Lev torn between familial expectations, religious tenets and artistic aspirations. Winner of the Outer Critics Circle award in 2012 for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play, it’s a modern classic.
“It’s a wonderful play about this Hassidic family, and while not many of us can relate to that directly, we all find ourselves caught between two things sometimes. [Asher Lev’s] stuck between his great passion for being an artist and his devotion to his religion.” says Adam Gibbs, who plays Asher Lev. (Audiences saw Gibbs in the title role in Classical Theatre Company’s production of Doctor Faustus last year.) Directed by Ed Muth, My Name Is Asher Lev also features Kara Greenberg and Bradley Winkler.
8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays. Through February 1. Obsidian Art Space, 3522 White Oak. For information, visit thelabhou.org. $30.
Sundays, 3 p.m.; Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m. Starts: Jan. 9. Continues through Feb. 1, 2015
This article appears in Jan 8-14, 2015.