Review: ‘Trayf,’ a sweet-natured buddy comedy in a mitzvah van, explores Jewish identity

A automotive is an important factor of most buddy comedies. In “Trayf,” Lindsay Joelle’s entertaining bromance set in and round New York’s Orthodox Jewish group, the car of selection is a mitzvah van.

The play, which opened March 10 on the Geffen Playhouse’s intimate Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater, constructs an uncommon friendship triangle: Zalmy (Ilan Eskenazi) and Shmuel (Ben Hirschhorn), two 18-year-old Hasidic Jews from Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood, encounter a misplaced soul named Jonathan (Garrett Younger) when driving round Manhattan of their “tank” on one in every of their missions to rescue Jews who’ve misplaced contact with their religion.

A clerk at a well-liked Decrease Manhattan music retailer, Jonathan has not too long ago discovered that the daddy he’s nonetheless grieving was a Holocaust survivor. This data helps him join a few of the traumatic dots of his household, however he’s unsure find out how to embrace his newly found Jewish heritage.

Zalmy, ablaze with curiosity about life outdoors his non secular group, takes Jonathan, who was raised Catholic, below his wing. He invitations his damaged and bereaved new pal residence to Brooklyn for Shabbat dinner, welcoming him right into a tradition of rigorous custom that’s particularly comforting to somebody who hasn’t recognized his roots.

In change, Zalmy will get to ask Jonathan, who’s about 10 years older and infinitely extra worldly, about intercourse in licentious Manhattan. He additionally faucets into Jonathan’s information of pop music, one other taboo topic of infinite fascination.

The 12 months is 1991, so mixtapes — within the type of precise cassettes — play a significant position. Jonathan, who’s grateful that somebody is guiding his path to turning into an observant Jew, makes compilations that Zalmy smuggles into his room like treasured contraband.

Secular music is forbidden. Shmuel is shocked to be taught that Zalmy, his finest pal since childhood, even is aware of the title Elton John, by no means thoughts any of the artist’s songs. “Whenever you hear music, the soul of one other is within the room,” he says. “So I don’t desire a goyishe songwriter needs to be coming into my soul and trayfing up the place!”

“Trayf,” which describes meals prohibited by kosher legislation, is grammatically redeployed to underscore the hazards of assimilation. Shmuel lives in such a bubble that he has solely a toddler’s understanding of the workings of sexual activity. The prospect of romantic love pales in depth to the platonic affection he feels for his mitzvah tank “first mate.” He reminds Zalmy of non secular proscriptions out of concern of dropping the individual dearest to him in all of the world.

The dynamics of this trio are noticed by Joelle with a full of life wit and genial knowledge. As Jonathan turns into extra fanatical in his quest to be accepted as a convert, Zalmy grows extra preoccupied with the profane pleasures of curler disco and musical theater. Shmuel, seething with suspicion, secretly follows Zalmy on one in every of his fugitive outings. He’s horrified to be taught that his pal not solely attended a Broadway efficiency of “Fiddler on the Roof” however eliminated his yarmulke after the present.

Though fraught with jealousy, these male relationships are suffused with a fragile tenderness. A boyish innocence underlies “Trayf.” Eskenazi’s Zalmy has a welcoming smile that places one in thoughts of Miranda exclaiming on the finish of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” “O courageous new world that has such folks in’t!” When Hirschhorn’s Shmuel appears to be like at Zalmy, his eyes exude a love that defies class.

Younger’s Jonathan is tougher to position. A slacker in demeanor, he seems to be extraordinarily punctilious in issues of religion. The zeal of the convert skids into fanaticism, however there’s one thing touching in regards to the character’s flailing seek for deeper which means.

The manufacturing, directed by Maggie Burrows on a spare and easy set by Tim Mackabee, acknowledges that the energy of the play lies within the emotional attachments of those younger males. The geography of the staging, sketched by a bench and a few chairs, might be laborious to trace. It’s not all the time clear if a second is happening contained in the mitzvah van, on a patio or on a road nook. However the actors vibrantly map out the interior terrain of their characters.

Joelle is simpler in establishing the dramatic battle than in resolving it. “Trayf” stalls on the hour mark. A fourth character is launched, Leah (Louisa Jacobson), Jonathan’s estranged girlfriend, who brings a extra progressive Jewish perspective to the story. Jacobson makes essentially the most of her one scene, however the playwright discards Leah and her difficult questions on non secular and cultural id.

Earlier within the play, Shmuel takes up the difficulty of what makes an individual a Jew. His reply, “a Jewish soul,” is tautological. Leah, in her temporary look, dismantles this mentality. However Joelle, skirting the bigger philosophical conundrums raised by her characters, settles for a comic book ending during which tough issues are dismissed with a heartwarming picture.

It’s enjoyable eavesdropping on these dudes of their mitzvah tank. However after whetting my urge for food, “Trayf” left me hungering for extra substantive non secular nourishment.