Out of Character

It is an interesting idea when two theaters join to bring a show to Washington, DC. In this case Theater J, and Mosaic Theater Company of DC, have teamed up to bring Tony Award-Winner Ari’el Stachel’s one-man show, Out of Character to DC. What makes this combination a little more interesting is when you remember that Ari Roth, the Artistic Director forced out of Theater J, was the founding Artistic Director of Mosaic Theater. He is now also gone from there.

There are some productions more difficult to write about, for me this is one. There is no question Ari’el Stachel, who wrote the show, is an extremely talented actor, story teller, and singer. Out of Character is directed by Tony Taccone. The show tells the story of Stachel’s life as an Arab Jew seeking to find identity and stable mental health. It begins when his mother takes him to a therapist when he is five, and he is diagnosed with OCD and prescribed drugs. It continues through his teen years of trying out different personalities, to his adult battles with panic attacks, to achieving his dream as an actor, and winning a Tony award for his role in The Band’s Visit. It continues to the present day and his trying to deal with the impact October 7th has on his life here in the United States, as an Arab/Jew. 

OCD and yes, he is manic. He is constantly charging around the stage, and for me, that was at times very distracting, and didn’t seem to be necessary. He tells us his OCD is mainly visible in how much he sweats. He seems to blame his mother for taking him to the therapist when he was five. He has been on different drugs and seeing various psychiatrists over the years, without any real solution to his sweats. 

He tells the story about how being an Arab Jew has made his life so difficult in his own eyes. He hides for many years pretending to be Black, as his skin is a little darker shade. He spends years denying being either Arab or Jewish. Now it may be the lighting on the stage, but a Jewish friend who came to the show with me, who also grew up in Berkeley, where much of the early story takes place, said if he saw him on the street, or in class, he would have seen him as a nice Jewish boy. 

His mother was Ashkenazi, and very white, and his father was an Arab Jew with a darker skin. They ended up divorcing when he was one, and his story revolves around his denying his father’s heritage. But unless I missed it, after he ends up going to school where his father lives after the divorce, one never again hears about his mother. Did she die? Did he never again talk to her? Maybe I missed that part of his story. But like much of the story, it seems a little disjointed. At one point he joins a group that protests actors not getting roles based on their racial/ethnic makeup. Why don’t Egyptian Actors get to play Egyptians, etc. Then when he gets a role differing from his background, he leaves the group. 

Again, there is no question he’s very funny, he is clearly a really good actor, a good story teller, and a good singer. He is entertaining for the whole 90 minutes of the show. My advice when you go to see it, just enjoy him, and you will. Don’t try to make too much of the story. It only seems to come together at times like after both 9/11, and then again after October 7th and the Hamas attack on Israel.  As the show ends, he tells us he decides he should be himself, not take on other personas, and that he has a new therapist, and new medication to fight his OCD. The Scenic Designer, Afsoon Pajoufar and Lighting and Projections Designer, Alexander V. Nichols, definitely add to the positive vibes of the show.

Out of Character is at Theater J through January 26th and tickets are available online.