Emil Weinstein is the playwright ofBecoming Eve, which is based onAbby Steins 2019 memoirof the same name.
It follows her journey from being a rabbi in an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community to an out transgender woman.
Tommy Dorfman stars as Chava, the character inspired by Stein.
The play opened in March and runs through April 27 at the Abrons Art Center in New York.
When my agent sent me Abby Steins memoirBecoming Evein 2020,I was like, I know that rabbi.
She goes to synagogue with my mom in New York.
Ive watched her onYouTube.
It felt like fate.
We first met on Zoom in April 2020 and have since discovered were like soulmates.
That first meeting was Abby wanting to see to it she liked me and that the vibes were good.
I did my homework.
Then I started writing drafts of the play.
I think after she read the first draft, she was like, I made the right choice.
From there, the relationship has gotten deeper and deeper.
We had no idea wed wind up clicking so well.
I grew up in the theater, and both my grandpa and my mother were writers.
When I first got the job, Id directed four episodes ofThe L Word: Generation Q.
But over the course of working on this play, I came into myself as a writer.
It was so cool and interesting and scary.
And Tommy Dorfman just holds the show and makes it sing.
She brings so much both complexity and truth to the character.
For the most part, queer people are the happiest people on earth, or have been until recently.
Im always trying to create a space in my work where queer people feel loved and seen.
Its nice to invite [non-LGBTQ+ people] into this work.
It feels like inviting our parents to the table.
The play makes me proud to be Jewish.
I love being Jewish.
I dont love patriarchy, but I love the traditions.
Dont be afraid of it.
Usually there’s a paradox at the center of it.
Two opposite things are true at the same time.
The play is about holding that paradox, that both-side-ed-ness.
We’ve gotten really bad at that recently.
Jewish traditions brought Abby and me closer together.
We had the same values, and were both obsessed with Jewish mysticism and spirituality.
I just felt like I met a kindred spirit.
She officiated our wedding last fall and made all the old people cry.
Ill vote for her for president one day.
Its been really fun to come into ourselves as people as were telling a coming-of-age story.
Ive shed a lot of the outdated patterns.
Ive also become a writer, and so much of writing is stripping away.
Interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
