There’s an old adage that actors should work hard to make their performance seem effortless. Ari’el Stachel doesn’t do that — but he offers a solid excuse in his labor-intensive one-man show Other. He opens the performance by re-creating the night of his biggest professional triumph, winning the Tony Award in 2018 for his supporting role as a smooth Egyptian trumpet player in the Israel-set musical The Band’s Visit, and how his lifelong battle with anxiety led him to repeated visits to the bathroom to towel off his sweat between awkward conversations with well-wishers and industry bigwigs.

Acting might seem like an odd career choice for a man whose childhood anxiety led to a diagnosis of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder at age 5. But Stachel provides a detailed account of his struggles with the voice in his head that tells him to avoid taking risks and to repeat actions in multiples of three, five, and nine (oddly, he doesn’t dwell on, or demonstrate, this aspect of his condition). He names the voice “Meredith” and eventually tries to drown her out with alcohol, cannabis, and prescription drugs from well-meaning but dubiously competent psychiatrists. (One prescribes him the highly addictive Xanax. Seriously?)

Meredith isn’t the only antagonist that Stachel faces. There’s also the matter of his complicated identity as the son of a Yemenite Israeli father and an Ashkenazi Jewish mother that leaves him feeling like an outsider even in communities that ought to be welcoming. He finds that he’s too dark-skinned to fit in at his Jewish day school in the Bay area in the early aughts — and he gets ostracized when friends meet his bearded dad, who he admits “looks like Osama” bin Laden. But he’s also rejected by many in the Arab community for his Jewish roots despite repeatedly getting auditions to play “Terrorist Number 2.” But what’s one to do when you are both Arab and Jewish? What roles can he play in an era in which authenticity seems to matter in casting decisions? In Stachel’s case, you check the “other” box and hope for the best.

Sadly, his first effort to embrace the entirety of his origins — and to share that personal truth — is an utter failure. He posts a video to social media after 2023’s Hamas-led attack on Israel where he asserts, “We don’t need to exist in binaries; I am living proof that these divisions are a lie.” (In retrospect, of course, this might be a classic case of the adage: Too soon.) The blowback is immediate, and he retreats to the open arms of Meredith and his various chemical crutches.

This is interesting material, and Stachel is an appealing narrator of his life story who jumps fluidly between dozens of different characters with skill. Director Tony Taccone also enhances the storytelling with projections (by lighting designer Alexander V. Nichols) on Afsoon Pahoufar’s simple geometric set. You may find yourself empathizing with Stachel’s journey, and admiring the considerable effort that he exerts to share it, handkerchief at the ready to mop his dewy forehead. But Stachel doesn’t provide enough specificity to make his story really come alive, especially since he seems to have escaped without any onstage meltdowns, dire medical interventions, or career-ending episodes. He emerges as a likable, pretty well-adjusted guy. Good on him, but that’s not compelling enough to sustain a 90-minute solo routine. Despite all the visible flop sweat. ★★☆☆☆

OTHER
Greenwich House Theater, Off Broadway
Running time: 90 minutes (with no intermission)
Tickets on sale through December 6 for $39 to $79