A sleep-deprived, highly-caffeinated Chava (Tommy Dorfman) is on edge as she hurriedly rearranges the room of an Upper West Side Manhattan synagogue where she has summoned her ultra-Orthodox Hasidic parents for an “emergency” meeting. It is 2016 and we can hear the sound of Ariana Grande’s “Break Free” bleeding from Chava’s headphones as she begins to sing along while she stacks up plastic chairs. The twenty-something woman has asked progressive rabbi Jonah (Brandon Uranowitz), whom she has only met a couple of times, to act as a moderator as she comes out as trans to her mother, Mami (Judy Kuhn), and father, Tati (Richard Schiff). Throughout the play, we are aware that the characters are speaking in Yiddish, Aramaic, and Hebrew, but as an audience we hear their words as if were speaking in English, which they use only very occasionally.
Chava has been forced into the decision to come out because she recently ran into a family acquaintance in Midtown Manhattan who recognized her and she wants to get in there herself before the news spreads to her family that she was seen wearing a dress. Not wanting to shock her father as soon as he enters the room, Chava changes her appearance, tying her hair back and covering up her vibrant floral summer dress with a hoodie and jeans. Her energy immediately shifts and the change in her gender expression feels like a retreat into a restricted, uneasy version of herself. “Boy-drag of sorts”, as its referred to in the play script. It is, however, still clothing that is strikingly different from the traditional modest garments that she grew up wearing as a descendant of the Baal Shem Tov.
Having taken a 90-minute subway ride from Brooklyn on a hot September day—a burden which he frequently brings up—Tati eventually arrives at the meeting alone, although Mami does appear in several of the flashback scenes that punctuate the play. Once he is in the room, Chava does not simply want to tell her father that she is trans, but to urge him to engage with interpretations of the Torah which she believes make it clear that transness is not an odds with Judaism, but rather at the core of its texts, “even holy”. As Jonah, who is impressed and intrigued by Chava’s arguments about God’s testing of Abraham, puts it, “The sacrifice is actually a transformation, which is so essentially Jewish. We’re the people of transition.”
Fascinating and persuasive, Becoming Eve has been adroitly adapted for the stage by playwright Emil Weinstein from Abby Chava Stein’s 2019 memoir (Becoming Eve: My Journey from Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman) with bold direction by Tyne Rafaeli. The series of flashback scenes immerse us in Chava’s childhood and adolescence, examining her intimate relationships with her parents and her emerging self-awareness, and later, her brief marriage to her accepting wife Fraidy (Tedra Millan).
The younger versions of Chava are rendered by exquisitely-crafted Japanese theatre Bunraku-style puppets designed by Amanda Villalobos, artfully operated with touching sensitivity by Justin Perkins and Emma Wiseman that breathe life into the creations. They are voiced by Dorfman, who remains a presence in the scenes, and occasionally powerfully steps in to take over from the puppet, bringing poignancy to certain significant moments, such as a first kiss. In one particularly touching scene, a teenage Chava is beginning to understand herself and forms an affectionate bond with a kindred spirit, Chesky (a wonderful Rad Pereira), who is drawn to the same texts as they study together.
Chava shares a Kabbalistic interpretation of the founding Abraham story with her father that suggests “Isaac was born with a female soul inside a male body”. Visually, this same idea is conveyed in Chava’s own life through the flashbacks where we see the younger puppet Chava being watched over by the adult version.
Despite their differences now that Chava is an adult, we see how close she was to her father in her youth, and that intimacy persists with Tati’s openness to listen to his child, and her theories, even if he can’t accept her as her authentic self. On the surface, he appears reluctant and difficult, but his love is unmistakable. All of which is movingly portrayed in subtle shifts by Schiff who delivers an engrossing, nuanced performance, with Weinstein never villainizing the man. Uranowitz brings an engaging intellectual energy to Jonah with a neurotic edge, making the character’s own religious journey and struggles with his faith palpable. A little chaotic, and frequently interrupted by phone calls from home, the moments where he simply listens to father and daughter are utterly compelling.
Each character has had their own experience of questioning their faith and coming back to it. We learn that even Tati spent once 48 hours watching American movies, including Jaws. Although we connect most closely with Chava as the central character, all of the characters around her are sympathetically drawn and portrayed.
Having made an impact on New York stages in supporting roles in Jeremy O. Harris’ Daddy and more recently Sam Gold’s adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, Dorfman proves herself to be a captivating leading lady here, naturalistic with real strength in her stillness. She deftly conveys the high stakes and urgency of this meeting for Chava, almost like her entire life has been building to it. Her presence beautifully helps set the tone of each of the flashback scenes and she makes Chava’s relationship with her father feel layered and lived-in.
While Arnulfo Maldonado’s nicely detailed set design moors us in the tangible, real world, the way Rafaeli stages the flashbacks, with effective lighting design by Ben Stanton, has an ethereal quality that makes them feel like memories.
Becoming Eve is a rich, contemplative and poignant work that treats its audience with intelligence, while remaining invitingly accessible. A satisfying play that will likely stay with its audience.
By James Kleinmann
New York Theatre Workshop’s production of Becoming Eve runs at Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand Street, New York, NY 10002) through April 27th, 2025. For more details and to purchase tickets head to NYTW.org.
Leave a Reply