DISGRACED is the story of a successful Muslim-American attorney who has renounced his religion and secured a coveted piece of the American Dream. Living high above Manhattan's Upper East Side, he and his artist wife host an intimate dinner party that is about to explode. Witty banter turns to vicious debate, and with each cocktail comes a startling new confession, painting an unforgettable portrait of our perception of race and religion.
Reviewing DISGRACED at LCT3 for The New York Times, Charles Isherwood wrote:
"This rollicking new play by Ayad Akhtar is a continuously engaging, vitally engaged play about thorny questions of identity and religion in the contemporary world. The dialogue bristles with wit and intelligence. Mr. Akhtar puts contemporary attitudes toward religion under a microscope, revealing how tenuous self-image can be for people born into one way of being who have embraced another."
Some plays have a soft and gentle feel. Others build to a climax but remain mellow for the most part. And then there's Ayad Akhtar's explosive race relations drama 'Disgraced,' which makes its audience feel like it was just uncomfortably blindsided and hit with a ton of bricks...Even if some of the plot developments are relatively over-the-top, Akhtar raises a provocative debate over racial and religious identity that is as compelling as it is disturbing. 'Disgraced' is essentially a modern tragedy, leaving its audience in a state of fear and pity. Just as Oedipus was helpless to alter his fate, Amir is seemingly unable to escape his heritage. Kimberly Senior's engrossing production is marked by strong performances all around. Dhillon convincingly depicts Amir's descent out of cool professionalism, while Radnor brings a professorial, purposely unpleasant touch to his character that is a far cry from the ultra-romantic Ted Mosby.
'Disgraced' was far from perfect when it opened off-Broadway two years ago, but it worked up to a point...Now 'Disgraced' is back, with a new cast, on Broadway at that. But the bigger stage hasn't been kind to the show. Because the play seems like a PowerPoint lecture about current hot topics -- terrorism, Islam, Jews, religion, art -- it requires excellent acting. Pity the performances here are wildly uneven, and a couple of them are downright bad. Purists may look suspiciously at Josh Radnor...But Radnor's actually quite good as Isaac, a smarmy, smug Whitney Museum curator -- and Karen Pittman, the original cast's lone survivor, is even better as Isaac's no-nonsense wife, Jory. No, the problems are Hari Dhillon and Gretchen Mol. Inconveniently they play the leads, attorney Amir Kapoor and his wife, the WASP-y painter Emily. And they're never believable -- either as a couple or as, you know, people.
2012 | Off-Broadway |
Lincoln Center Theater LCT3 Production Off-Broadway |
2014 | Broadway |
Broadway Premiere Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | Theatre World Awards | Theatre World Award | Karen Pittman |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Greenleaf Productions |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Ayad Akhtar |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Rachel Weinstein |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Alden Bergson |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | The David Merrick Arts Foundation |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | The Shubert Organization |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Jere Harris |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Darren DeVerna |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | TNTDynaMite Productions |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Ashley DeSimone |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Carl Levin |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Jonathan Reinis |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Jessica Genick |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Tulchin/Bartner Productions |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Stephanie P. McClelland |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Rodger Hess |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Richard Winkler |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Amanda Watkins |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Jenifer Evans |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Lincoln Center Theater |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | The Araca Group |
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