‘Indecent’ at the Ahmanson Theatre

Richard Topol as Lemml the stage manager in “Indecent,” a play by Paula Vogel that looks back at another play: a 1907 Yiddish drama, “God of Vengeance.”

In the play within the play, actors perform the closing moments of Sholem Asch’s 1907 Yiddish play “God of Vengeance.” The players here are Mimi Lieber, left, Adina Verson and Harry Groener.

Elizabeth A. Davis leads a musical scene in “Indecent.”

Joby Earle portrays Yiddish playwright Sholem Asch, who wrote “God of Vengeance.”

Richard Topol as Lemml, in spotlight at center, is forced into a lineup of Jewish ghetto residents as “Indecent” plunges into the Holocaust.

Adina Verson, left, and Elizabeth A. Davis embrace. The Yiddish play “God of Vengeance” tenderly depicts same-sex romance.

An early reading of Sholem Asch’s “God of Vengeance” at a Warsaw salon doesn’t go well.

The first reader of “God of Vengeance” as depicted in “Indecent”: Adina Verson as Mathilde, wife of the play’s writer, Sholem Asch, who is portrayed by Joby Earle.

Paula Vogel attends a dress rehearsal of her play “Indecent” at the Ahmanson Theatre.