←Recommendations of A Golem Story

In Stephen Kaplan’s “Un Hombre,” a widowed mother, Rebecca Wolfson, and her son, Josh, are frozen in grief. While Josh struggles to prepare for his Bar Mitzvah, Rebecca hides in her basement studio where she unintentionally sculpts a golem. The new heart in a wounded family, the golem communicates in Hebrew, Spanish, and English and sings licks of musical theater, both to console Rebecca and Josh and to help them reconnect to each other and to living. Poetic and theatrical, “Un Hombre” examines timeless philosophical questions with humor and tenderness. The final scene will break your heart. Highly recommended.

Un Hombre manages to be powerful and intimate, searing and funny, steeped in the tradition of Golem stories and also as new as yet-to-be-shaped clay. Kaplan gives us nuanced and fully-felt responses to grief, from anger and denial to the ways we can learn to reconnect to the world and one another. Just as Rebecca sculpts new life from clay, the play creates a renewed mother-child relationship from the pain and shared love they feel. Beautifully wrought.

This is one of those rare plays that will stick with you long after you've read it. Un Hombre is simultaneously: (1) a celebration of language, art, and culture and the way that it impacts our humanity (2) an exploration of grief and family, and (3) a dream for actors and designers alike, with space for each.

This has been in my reading list for a long time, and I'm so glad I finally got to it. A beautiful golem story (how's that for a description?!) about love and loss and permanence vs transience. I really enjoyed how it all tied together (and in three languages, too!). A lovely, powerful play with three great roles for actors - including a young actor.

Un Hombre is a magical realist exploration of grief steeped in Jewish tradition: Though it is comic to imagine a sculptress accidentally creating a golem and assigning him to tutor her son in both Spanish and Hebrew as he prepares for his Bar Mitzvah, Kaplan gives it gravitas expanding it into a philosophical meditation on existence, purpose, being part of a family still in mourning. The climax comes when Josh gives a D'Var Torah that addressing both the troubling aspects of his assigned reading and what has happened over the course of the play.

So many stories we may know or have heard before, weaved together in a beautiful examination of guilt, grief, love, and what it means to grow from pain. My heart shattered like ceramics and was smoothed back together like a slab of clay.

Kaplan explores grief and relationships in many forms. With many powerful moments laced with humor, the characters take you on a journey that is both challenging and welcoming. Original and insightful, the play will stay with you for many moons.

This is a poignant and original meditation on grief and family and coming of age while grappling with the trauma of loss. Alejandro the golem is a wonderful central metaphor (and character) for the ways Josh and Rebecca are looking to fill the void of loss. The relationship between mother and son is true and complex and well-rendered. I'd love to see some of these stage images on their feet!

An incredibly imaginative take on grief and domestic drama. Some indelible stage imagery.

This script has lots of fun playing with language. Love the points about temporary vs. permanent. A moving mother-son story dealing with grief.