By Ellie Smith
Features Editor

Starting February 27th, Westford Academy Theater Arts debuted its production of My Name is Asher Lev, a play written by Aaron Posner based on the novel by Chaim Potok.

Asher Lev, directed by Michael Towers and student assistant director Jillian Baker, began showing at Westford Academy on February 27th followed by an in school performance on the 28th. The 40 minute play will also be performed at WA on March 13th at 8:00 p.m. and will continue to be presented at various competitions throughout the month.

A total of 61 people, including 3 actors and over 50 stage crew members, have spent close to 4 months working on this production. The entire set is constructed on stage in front of the audience as members of the stage crew put together the wooden base of the stage and carry tables, chairs, carpets and other props onto the stage.

The play tells the story of Asher Lev, a Hasidic Jewish painter who hopes to break free of his parents’ strict ways and become a true artist. Through his journey from youth to adulthood, he meets multiple men and women who help him reconcile his religious faith with his need to express himself as a painter.

When Towers saw this play last year, he felt that it resonates with him and saw that multiple elements of the play mirrored many of his personal experiences with his family growing up. When deciding which play to do this year, Towers also looked at the actors he had to choose from and what would be a challenging play for them.

“I looked at the pool of students that I have and tried to serve them best for purposes of creating opportunities that are challenging, rigorous and appropriate,” said Towers. “I saw the dramatic and theatrical moments and I knew I just had to have the opportunity to build those.”

Auditions were held in early December with roughly 35 students auditioning. Because Towers limited auditions solely to juniors and seniors, the amount of students who auditioned was much smaller than usual.

Following auditions, Towers selected junior Sam Nudler for the part of Asher Lev, senior Nick Nudler as the men, and Renee Craig as the women. Both Craig and Nick Nudler play multiple people and make many costume changes throughout the play.

Junior Sam Nudler enjoys playing the role of Asher because he is able to narrate and speak to the audience.

“I love being able to narrate the play and to be able to talk directly to the audience and really bring them into the world with me,” said Sam Nudler.

Because Towers is used to working with much larger casts, it was somewhat of a challenge for him to work with only 3 actors, but it allows him to work with the actors more individually.

“I am an acting coach, that is what I do well,” said Towers. “I enable actors to build character so, when you give me the opportunity to work with just 3, those characters are going be pretty rock solid.”

The cast and crew took a trip to New York City where they visited Crown Heights Brooklyn, a city largely populated by Hasidic Jews. Because Asher Lev and other characters in the play are Hasidic Jews, Towers decided to take this trip to allow the group to immerse themselves in the culture, and thus gain a deeper understanding of the characters’ points of view.

On March 1st, they traveled to Danvers High School to compete in the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild (METG) Festival preliminary rounds. At the end of the competition, Westford Academy was 1 of the 3 schools out of 7 who competed who were selected to advance to the Semi Finals.

The METG Semi Finals will be held at Westford Academy on March 15th and the schools to advance in that competition will move on to the State Finals held from March 27th to the 29th.

Assistant director Jillian Baker has enjoyed working on the play and feels that having a small cast allows everyone involved to become close as a group.

“I thoroughly enjoyed creating a strong bond with so many people, and all of the wonderful times we had as a team. It was a lot of work and tiring, but it has really paid off,” said Baker.

Nick Nudler also feels that the cast and crew share a strong bond and especially enjoyed working with Renee Craig and his brother.

“Renne Craig, will you go to prom with me?” adds Nudler.