Tommy Dorfman Reclaims Her Voice By Playing A Trans Rabbi In ‘Becoming Eve’

After a string of well-received performances in “13 Reasons Why” and “Jane the Virgin,” Tommy Dorfman was a star on the rise when she publicly reintroduced herself as a transgender woman in 2021. Behind the scenes, however, she says she grappled with the possibility that living as her true self would cut her acting career short, given the scarcity of opportunities for trans performers in Hollywood.

Four years later, the Georgia-born actor is in the midst of a career resurgence after shifting her focus to the New York stage. Last fall, she made her Broadway debut alongside Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler in director Sam Gold’s production of “Romeo and Juliet,” breaking box office records. On Monday, she’ll tackle her most complex role to date when her new play, “Becoming Eve,” opens off-Broadway.

“I wasn’t sure I was still going to be acting after transitioning, even though I knew it was in my blood and in my spirit,” Dorfman said. “Now that I’m acting again, I’m insatiable. As a kid, all I wanted to do was theater, so having that dream realized made the times that were more challenging in the process insignificant. It’s given me an opportunity to reconnect with my voice and my body and my creativity.”

Directed by Tyne Rafaeli and produced by New York Theatre Workshop, “Becoming Eve” is an adaptation of Abby Stein’s 2019 memoir of the same name. It follows Stein ― known globally as the first openly transgender female rabbi from a Hasidic background and an LGBTQ+ rights activist ― as she reflects on her upbringing in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish enclave in Brooklyn, New York, and, later, her marriage and rabbinical ordination.

“Becoming Eve” begins as Stein ― identified in the play by her middle name, Chava, and played by Dorfman ― is preparing to broach the subject of her gender identity with her stern father (Richard Schiff of “The West Wing”), also a rabbi and descendant of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidic Judaism.

To prepare for “Becoming Eve,” Dorfman and her cast mates ― including Tony winner Brandon Uranowitz and four-time Tony nominee Judy Kuhn ― met extensively with Stein, now a part-time rabbi at a progressive Brooklyn synagogue.

And though Dorfman rarely leaves the stage during the show, playwright Emil Weinstein incorporates life-sized puppets to portray younger iterations of Chava before her transition. It’s an effective and surprisingly poignant choice meant to “articulate this idea of a body and soul in mismatch,” Weinstein explains.

“Part of what the play posits is this idea that we all contain multitudes within us, so there’s something beautiful about watching how hard it is for four people to operate a single body,” he said.

The off-Broadway premiere of “Becoming Eve” this week feels auspiciously timed, given President Donald Trump’s efforts to roll back LGBTQ+ rights at the federal level. Though the production was originally slated for New York’s Connelly Theater, it was rejected by that building’s landlord, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, in October before landing at Abrons Arts Center.

“I was really, really disappointed, even if I wasn’t exactly surprised,” Weinstein recalled. “It affirmed a lot of the fears we were feeling in the community as to where we were heading, which was disturbing and scary. But it also made everyone, especially on the producing side, even more passionate about doing the piece.”

Describing “Becoming Eve” as “inherently political in the way I think all good art is,” Dorfman added: “The politicization of trans people in this administration is inescapable, as are the complexities of being Jewish. My hope is that it cracks open some new ideas about peace, love and forgiveness for anybody who has the opportunity to see it.”

At present, “Becoming Eve” is scheduled to run at Abrons Arts Center through April 27. Exactly one month later, Dorfman will unveil her autobiography, “Maybe This Will Save Me: A Memoir of Art, Addiction and Transformation,” in which she chronicles her own path to self-acceptance.

Though Dorfman is tight-lipped about what her next stage and screen projects may be, she says starring in “Becoming Eve” has already been a transformative experience.

“It’s re-inspired me to act in a way I’d lost some inspiration for. A lot of that was out of fear,” she said. “I’m grateful to be out of a fear space, and more in a faith space, with my work.”