The new play Becoming Eve begins performances Off-Broadway March 20. The play by Emil Weinstein, based on the memoir by Abby Chava Stein, plays Abrons Arts Center through Aprl 27, with opening night set for April 7. New York Theatre Workshop is producing.
The cast is led by Tommy Dorfman (Romeo + Juliet) as Chava, a rabbi who shocks her Hasidic community when she comes out as trans. She is joined by Judy Kuhn (Fun Home) as Mami, Tedra Millan (Leopoldstadt) as Fraidy, Rad Pereira (Betty) as Chesky, Justin Perkins (Shank’s Mare) as Puppeteer, Emmy winner Richard Schiff (The West Wing) as Tati, Tony Award winner Brandon Uranowitz (Leopoldstadt) as Jonah, and Emma Wiseman (Three Houses) as Puppeteer.
The play has been a conversation starter since it was announced. Becoming Eve was initially supposed to be presented at the Connelly Theater. But following new content guidelines from the Connelly's landlord, the Archdiocese of New York (which shied away from works that discuss gender issues, including trans rights), NYTW was told they had to find a new venue for Becoming Eve.
The real-life Stein is considered the first openly transgender woman raised in a Hasidic community, and is a direct descendant of Hasidic Judaism's founder, the Baal Shem Tov. In 2015, she founded one of the first support groups nationwide for trans people with an Orthodox Jewish background who have left Orthodox Judaism. Stein is the first woman, and the first openly transgender woman, to have been ordained by an Orthodox Jewish institution, having received her rabbinical degree in 2011 before her coming out.
Becoming Eve features scenic design by Arnulfo Maldonado (Yellow Face), costume design by Enver Chakartash (Romeo + Juliet), lighting design by Ben Stanton (Maybe Happy Ending), sound design by UptownWorks' Daniela Hart, Noel Nichols, and Bailey Trieweiler (Blood of the Lamb), puppet design by Amanda Villalobos (Wolf Play), and music by Daniel Kluger (Oh, Mary!). Claire Yenson is the casting director, and Jason Kaiser (Monsoon Wedding) serves as stage manager.
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