This just in: Long Wharf Theatre has decided not to do the world premiere of a new stage adaptation of William Styron’s novel Sophie’s Choice, which was to star Carla Gugino and be directed by Long Wharf Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein.
Instead, the theater’s final mainstage production of its 2011-12 season will be a stage adaptation of a different Jewish-themed novel, Chaim Potok’s My Name is Asher Lev. The play version is by Aaron Posner, the famed regional director/playwright whose other script adaptations include Ken Kesey’s Sometimes a Great Notion and a whole other Potok novel, The Chosen. My Name is Asher Lev is an established script which has had a number of successful productions, including one at Barrington Stage Company in the Berkshires this past August.
According to the Long Wharf’s director of Marketing and Communications, Steve Scarpa, the Sophie’s Choice script “was in development for 18 months. Gordon didn’t feel the script was ready. The producers and Carla Gugino agreed.”
In a Long Wharf press release, Edelstein is quoted:
“I was looking for a play with gravitas, high literary content and seriousness of purpose. Happily, I found an adaptation of a much loved and much read novel by a distinguished writer. My Name is Asher Lev is a beautiful story about the coming of age of an artist whose God given gift is in conflict with his strict religious upbringing,” Edelstein said. “The play asks timeless questions about community, God, family and artistic talent.”
My Name is Asher Lev will play on the Long Wharf Theatre mainstage May 2-27. Gordon Edelstein will direct. No cast members have yet been announced.
