Let me confess: I am not, generally, a fan of solo shows, and sometimes decline to review them for fear that I will not be a fair auditor. But when I heard that Tony Award winner Ari’el Stachel had thrown his hat into this particular ring, I set my doubts aside.
I made the right choice: Stachel’s polished performance should win over the most jaded of nay-sayers. And given Stachel’s brilliance at characterization, it seems a misnomer to call this a “solo” show! The man’s range is astonishing, and he convinces us that the stage is full of people: his family members, his colleagues, his teachers, his childhood friends, and, especially, the many different versions he presents of himself.
He begins with a confession: he has OCD and chronic anxiety. He manages to live with it, but it has been with him his entire life, even as he has established a distinguished career as a professional actor. How has he coped?
Mostly, by hiding. Since childhood, he both tells and demonstrates, he has adopted characters behind which to hide. Is he middle Eastern? Is he Jewish? Is he Ashkanazi? Is he Yemeni? Is he a terrorist? Is he just terrified? Perhaps he’s Black? Can he love his father? Is he ashamed of his father? Is he ashamed of himself?
The poor man is as full of self-questioning as Hamlet, but, thankfully, a great deal funnier and neither depressing nor tragic.
In the course of experimenting with his many identities, Stachel confronts a wide variety of people and brings them to life. They challenge him to figure out who he really is and how he feels about that.
Stachel’s performance is a journey of self-discovery and when, towards the end of his tour de force performance, he seems to drop all masks and stand emotionally naked before us, the catharsis is marvelous.
Along the way he offers plenty of show biz pizzazz: he sings, he dances, he emotes, he does impersonations, and he sweats. A lot. He can’t help it, he tells us. We’ll have to get used it, just like he has. And we do. It is impossible to resist his honest vulnerability.
Ari’el Stachel’s performance is a celebration of theatre, of art, of life, of survival, of love, of family, of America.
Where life is at its most overwhelming, Ari’el Stachel gives us hope.
What better way to return to live theatre after COVID?
“Out of Character” continues at Berkeley Repertory Theatre through July 30th. For further information click here.
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Rating: **** (For an explanation of Theatrestorm’s rating scale, click here.)
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“Out of Character”. Written and performed by Ari’el Stachel. Director: Tony Taccone. Scenic Design: Afsoon Pajoufar. Costume Design: Maggi Yule. Lighting/Projections Design: Alexander V. Nichols. Sound Design/Dramaturgy: Madeleine Oldham.
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