'Becoming Eve' Off-Broadway review — Tommy Dorfman shines in drama about history, faith, and selfhood
Read our review of Becoming Eve off Broadway, a new play written by Emil Weinstein and adapted from Abby Chava Stein's memoir of the same name.
Chava (Tommy Dorfman) rushes onto the stage in Becoming Eve like a ball of tightly coiled steel wool, despite her breezily cute pink dress. At first, from the giddy thumping of Ariana Grande coming from Chava’s matte purple headphones, one would not guess she came from a community sealed off from the modern world. After being raised Ultra-Orthodox Jewish and skittering away from that life — marriage and child included — she will reveal her true self to Tati (Richard Schiff), her traditional father and a respected rabbi. She comes from a long line of renowned rabbis and educators, and she is a direct descendent of Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidic Judaism. Her transformation is, as the play implies, millennia in the making.
If it’s difficult to believe Chava has been speaking Yiddish for most of her life (a flashback sequence has her then-wife Fraidy (Tedra Millan) discourage Chava from leaving the Orthodox community because she barely speaks English), Dorfman embodies the years of adjusting not only to a new way of moving about the city in a new self, but in a new world. Dorfman vacillates keenly between the nervousness of someone finally standing up to their parents and the self-assuredness of someone who is well-read and takes the challenge of finding new folds in the (Holy) text.
The feeling of someone who has thought long and hard about how they want to exist in the world, and the divine implications of that, is in each of Dorfman’s familiar and authentic gestures. Scenes where Dorfman and Schiff go toe to toe on notions of transformation, the soul, and the history of interpretation are particularly energetic.
The play does interrupt its momentum with expository flashbacks of a young Chava spending her days praying to be a woman. A handful of these memory scenes show how a descendant of community and religious leaders could realize her transgender identity, but they do less to fill out the world Chava grew up in. A clandestine kiss between Chava and her yeshiva study partner is sweet (while giving the show the space to talk about God’s first human creations taking an androgynous form), but a subsequent scene where he reveals he’s getting married and moving to Toronto tells us what we may already understand in context.
Dorfman haunts these scenes while a puppet takes the place of a young, not-yet-self-actualized Chava. You can see Dorfman, often standing behind the puppet (operated by Justin Perkins and Emma Wiseman), take on the same anxiousness of the old Chava, whose soul is not yet matched with her body, fist clenched with a mix of anguish and determination. As the characters remind us, this bothness is intrinsic to the mysteries of life. If the show, at its best, is about someone in the present trying to make sense of their past to a parent, Dorfman seldom squanders her time.
Becoming Eve summary
Chava (Dorfman) arrives to a modest synagogue for a difficult conversation. With the assistance of her friend, a young rabbi named Jonah (Brandon Uranowitz), and a handful of holy texts, she will finally come out to her Ultra-Orthodox father (Schiff), forcing both to reflect on a lineage of questions about faith, tradition, and the soul.
What to expect at Becoming Eve
Adapting Abby Chava Stein’s memoir, Becoming Eve: My Journey from Ultra Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman, playwright Emil Weinstein flits between talky scenes of Chava, Tati, and Jonah discussing crucial sections of the Torah, commentaries on the scriptures, and the transformation of the soul; and memories of Chava’s closeted life as a child, adolescent, and young newlywed in eternal conflict with their inner self.
In scenes set in the past, Dorfman remains on stage, voicing the puppet, with the characters lightly illuminated by synthetic candles and the stained glass of the synagogue.
What audiences are saying about Becoming Eve
- “Seems more of an empathy vehicle than an accomplished drama. There is quality - great acting, lovely use of puppets, moments that are clever, informative or moving, but also much indulgence.” - Show-Score user aka
- “The play has top-notch acting, staging, sets, and writing. It's a multi-layered and spiritual play in which you get absorbed in the life journey of Rabbi Stein through flashbacks that reveal the turning points in her life that take her on her path to joy and freedom. It's a talky play, so be prepared to do the work of engaging as an audience member so that you will gain a deeper understanding and be moved.” - Show-Score user Kim G City
- “It was well-written, and the performances, especially those by Tommy Dorfman and Richard Schiff, were impressive. The story of a transgender woman coming out to her father is timely, and it was handled sensitively.” - Show-Score user MaxD
Who should see Becoming Eve
- Fans of Tommy Dorfman’s ascending career, including her Broadway debut in Romeo + Juliet and breakout screen performance in 13 Reasons Why, will be pleased to see her carry the show with impressive skill.
- Audiences interested in the increasing theatrical use of puppets in a wide range of shows, from Into the Woods to The Skin of Our Teeth, will welcome this novel implementation.
- Jewish audiences from all ranges and styles of tradition will enjoy diving into various commentaries on the Torah and the interpretations of particular stories, as well as a vision of modern and inclusive Judaism.
Learn more about Becoming Eve
When Becoming Eve is a showdown between daughter and father, the show hits its stride, exploring the contradictions and complexities of history, faith, and selfhood through Jewish rituals and readings. Tommy Dorfman gives an imperfect show a dynamic performance that encompasses its lofty ambitions, supported by good puppeteering and a magnetically stubborn Richard Schiff.
Photo credit: Becoming Eve off Broadway. (Photos by Matthew Murphy)
Originally published on