He underwent the pains of acceptance and disapproval all while truly learning himself as a person. Asher on the other hand wanted much more out of life he wanted to express himself through art. Asher’s father wanted Asher to be the typical Jewish young man who grows to serve the Jewish community. Asher and his father always quarreled about Asher’s painting and drawings being foolishness and a waste of time. Asher had to fight the lingering haze of tradition to transcend with his individuality intact but in a different way.
I saw that without fighting yourself you can never truly face yourself. The meaning of the show to me was very paradoxical. This show is all about losing some of yourself to become more of yourself. The play My Name is Asher Lev was very eye-opening for me. For those playwrights looking for ways to handle narrative in a play, this is a valuable example–go see it!! One other thing worth noting–the play is done without a single drawing in sight, as far as I could see–nothing but blank paper and lighted walls and picture frames–but that left Asher Lev’s genius to the imagination of the audience–right where it belongs.
And I did get a little tired of some declarations about the meaning of art and the artist–but those moments were fleeting–for ninety eight percent of the play, I was fully engaged. I did get a little impatient, for a very few moments, with the obtuseness of the father character in understanding his son’s art and talent–only once did the father look at a drawing and notice its beauty. It almost seemed to me that there were no wasted moments or lines. If you see it, note how the narrative parts are always combined with physical movement, and how abrupt the transitions are between narrative and dramatic scenes. But its interest for playwrights is the way it seamlessly and effectively combines dramatic writing with narrative, and the very physical style it uses to keep an audience involved at every moment of the play. It’s about a Jewish boy with a gift for drawing, and his struggle to become an artist. I attended last Saturday night, and in my opinion it’s a wonderful script, beautifully done in every way. If you get the opportunity, go to see MY NAME IS ASHER LEV at The Arden Theatre.
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