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TAMPA, Fla. – Honoring family and community versus chasing a dream of art is a debate in a new Stageworks Theatre play, “My Name is Asher Lev.”<\/p>\n
“This is a play I think that we can all learn a little something from,” Stageworks Theatre\u00a0Producing Artistic Director\u00a0Karla Hartley said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The backstory:<\/p>\n
The play is adapted from a novel of the same name by Chaim Potok. It follows Asher’s journey from childhood to early adulthood, focusing on his art and Jewish upbringing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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“There are a lot of stories about challenges between parents and a child. Parents can have certain very strict ideas about how life should be, and they just might have a kid that thinks completely differently than they do, and that’s what happens in this show,” actor Nicole Jeannine Smith said. “How do you navigate when that happens in a family? And how do you communicate? How do hopefully work through love?”<\/p>\n
READ: Man accused of kidnapping, sexually assaulting Temple Terrace teen arrested<\/a><\/p>\n The play features only three actors, with two playing multiple roles. Smith plays Asher’s mother, Rivkeh. Actor Jaryn McCann plays Asher.\u00a0<\/p>\n What they’re saying:<\/p>\n “He is stuck with this burning passion of wanting to be an artist,” McCann said. “He’s really struggling with his community, with his parents, trying to go down a road he’s really not supposed to go down.”<\/p>\n Asher’s community views artistic expression as a waste of time. The community focuses on spreading religious teachings by traveling. Actor Landon Green plays both Asher’s father Aryeh and Asher’s art mentor, Jacob Kahn.\u00a0<\/p>\n “The two main characters that I play are father figures in his life,” Green said. “They take up most of his interactions in life.”<\/p>\n The play is divided into four sections, with McCann talking directly to the audience in many scenes, helping prompt what time period in Asher’s life they are seeing.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It’s based on these relationships that you’ll see defined on stage. It’s about a family. It’s two parents and their child and trying to understand one another,” Hartley said. “I think whether you’re a Jewish, Gentile, Muslim, Hindu, any of it, that is something that we can all relate to.”<\/p>\n What’s next:<\/p>\n The play debuts in Tampa <\/a>on Thursday, March 5, with shows every Friday through Sunday until March 22. Tickets range from $30 to $50.\u00a0<\/p>\n To buy tickets or for more information on the play, visit here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Source: Information for this story was gathered from actors and organizers of the play “My Name is Asher Lev.”<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/vlcsnap-2026-03-05-14h53m32s059.png\")
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