Disgraced (2012) is the first stage play by playwright, novelist, and screenwriter Ayad Akhtar.[1] It premiered in Chicago and has had Off-Broadway and Off West End engagements. The play, which won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama,[2] opened on Broadway at the Lyceum Theater October 23, 2014.[3]Disgraced has also been recognized with a 2012 Joseph Jefferson Award for New Work – Play or Musical and a 2013 Obie Award for Playwriting. The 2014 Broadway transfer earned a nomination for Tony Award for Best Play in 2015.[4]
The 90-minute, one-act play is centered on sociopolitical themes such as Islamophobia and the self-identity of Muslim-American citizens.[5][6] It explores a dinner party among four people with very different backgrounds. As discussion turns to politics and religion, the mood quickly becomes heated. Described as a "combustible powder keg of identity politics,"[7] the play depicts racial and ethnic prejudices that "secretly persist in even the most progressive cultural circles."[8] It is also depicts the challenge for upwardly mobile Muslim Americans in post-9/11 America.[9] Productions have included performances by Aasif Mandvi and Erik Jensen.
Plot
Lawyer Amir Kapoor and his wife Emily host a dinner in their Upper East Side apartment in New York. Amir is an American-born, Muslim-raised lawyer, who works on Manhattanmergers and acquisitions. Emily is an up-and-coming artist who focuses on Islamic themes in her art.[9][6] Amir has cast aside much of his Muslim heritage for the sake of his career and serves as Emily's muse. She has an affinity for Islamic artistic traditions.[9]
Prior to the dinner, Amir, who is on the partner track, has become involved in a controversial case. Amir's assimilated nephew, Abe (born Hussein Malik), has concerns regarding the propriety of the arrest of a local imam who is imprisoned on charges that may be trumped-up of financing terrorist-supporting groups.[9] Amir questions whether it is religious persecution.[6] Emily encourages the reluctant Amir to appear in court in support of the imam; although he is in an unofficial capacity, his name is mentioned in The New York Times.[6]
The case becomes dinner conversation when Amir hosts Jory, a colleague from work, and her Jewish husband, Isaac,[6] who is Emily's art dealer.[9] In all, the dinner table assembly includes an ex-Muslim, an African American, a Jew and a WASP discussing the topic of religious faith.[10] The conversation touches upon "Islamic and Judaic tradition, the Quran and the Talmud, racial profiling and September 11 and the Taliban and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Benjamin Netanyahu" as tensions mount.[11]
When Amir admits he felt a "blush of pride" on September 11, and holds secret animosity toward Israel, his friends are disgusted. Jory and Amir leave the apartment to get a bottle of champagne. It is revealed that Isaac and Emily have had an affair in the past, and that he is secretly in love with her. Jory and Amir return just as Isaac is about to kiss Emily.
It is revealed that Jory has been selected as partner in the law firm over Amir, in part because he attended the imam's trial. Enraged, Amir discredits Jory using an ethnic slur. Jory and Isaac depart, with the status of their relationship uncertain following the revelation of Isaac's infidelity. When Emily confesses her affair with Isaac, Amir beats her. Abe stumbles into the apartment and finds his uncle standing over her.
The play jumps ahead a period of time. Amir is packing his belongings and preparing to leave the apartment. Emily brings Abe over for legal advice. He was questioned by the FBI after his friend expressed a jihadist sentiment at a Starbucks cafe. Amir warns Abe to be more cautious, but Abe blows up, saying that the West has "disgraced" Islam, but that they will take it all back one day. He storms out. Amir tries to reconcile with Emily, but she leaves.[12]
On November 2, 2011, the Chicago cast was announced. Usman Ally played Amir, Alana Arenas played Jory, Behzad Dabu played Abe, Benim Foster played Isaac, and Lee Stark played Emily. Previews started on January 27, 2012, and the official debut was on January 30.[13] The Chicago production creative team included set designer Jack Magaw, lighting designer Christine Binder, costume designer Janice Pytel, prop designer Nick Heggestad, sound designer Kevin O’Donnell, fight choreographer David Woolley, and production stage manager Katie Klemme.[13]
On July 26, 2012, the Off-Broadway cast was announced: Aasif Mandvi, Heidi Armbruster, Adam Dannheisser, Omar Maskati and Karen Pittman.[14] At the time, Mandvi was a correspondent for Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.[15] Other creative team members were sets designer Lauren Helpern, costume designer Dane Laffrey, lighting designer Tyler Micoleau, and sound designer Jill BC DuBoff.[14] The show began previews with Dannheisser on October 7, but Erik Jensen replaced him on October 10 after an illness, with opening night scheduled for October 22.[16]Kimberly Senior directed both productions at the American Theater Company in Chicago and at LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater in New York. She was also set to direct the Broadway run in 2014.[17]
The Broadway production was originated by Hari Dhillon and Danny Ashok reprising their Off West End roles as Amir and Abe, respectively, Karen Pittman reprising her Off-Broadway role as Jory, and Josh Radnor reprising as Isaac and Gretchen Mol as Emily.[19][20] Kimberly Senior, who directed the Chicago and Off-Broadway productions signed on to direct. She was joined on the creative team by John Lee Beatty (set), Jennifer von Mayrhauser (costumes), Ken Posner (lighting) and Jill DuBoff (sound).[20]
The following tables show the casts of the principal original productions:
National Public Radio describes the play thematically as one that "tackles Islamophobia and questions of Muslim-American identity".[5] Isherwood noted: "As two couples exchange observations about faith and politics in the modern world, the intellectual thickets they find themselves in become increasingly tangled." More specifically he said, it is a play "about thorny questions of identity and religion in the contemporary world, with an accent on the incendiary topic of how radical Islam and the terrorism it inspires have affected the public discourse."[6] Kapoor has "rejected his Muslim upbringing (and even his surname) to better assimilate into his law firm, but he still feels the occasional tug of Islam".[9] Geier wrote: "Disgraced offers an engaging snapshot of the challenge for upwardly mobile Islamic Americans in the post-9/11 age."[9] According to The Guardian'sStephen Moss, the play comes to a head as the protagonist "tries to come to terms with his multiple identity – American v Asian, Muslim v secularist, passive observer of injustice v activist".[23] Although Amir has an affinity for $600 shirts with obscenely high thread counts, his home dinner party is set in his apartment which is "spare and tasteful with subtle flourishes of the Orient".[11]
During interviews following the Pulitzer announcement, Akhtar said that the play's title has both a literal and a metaphorical meaning. Literally, Amir plays out his disgrace in almost real time before the audience. Metaphorically, Akhtar says "There are ways that the colonial history of the West is still playing out in the Muslim world. The events that comprise that history — a disgrace of native peoples, as it were — is still very much a part of our contemporary moment."[24]
Akhtar is a first generation Pakistani-American born in New York City and raised in Milwaukee. He had previously written and starred in the film The War Within (2005), in which he portrayed a Pakistani engineering student who became a terrorist.[24] He studied at Brown University and Columbia University.[11] His debut novel was American Dervish (2012), which studies "the Muslim religious experience in America".[24]
The son of immigrant doctors, Akhtar had spent a decade exploring dual identity before writing this play.[23] Akhtar decided to write from his own experiences. He said that, at a metaphorical level, in order to write this play he had to "turn and look over my shoulder at what I was running away from. And at that moment there was an explosion of creativity."[23]
Productions
Disgraced was originally scheduled at the American Theater Company in Chicago, Illinois, to run February 3 – March 4, 2012, with an official debut of February 6.[25] The run was moved forward one week to January 27 – February 26, 2012, with an official January 30 debut.[26][27] On February 21, its run was extended in Chicago until March 11, 2012.[28][29]
It made its New York debut of its Off-Broadway run at LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater with an October 22, 2012, premiere and was scheduled to run until November 18 before being extended until December 2.[30]Hurricane Sandy caused the cancellation of the October 28 and 29 evening performances but not the October 28 matinee.[31] On November 1, it was extended again until December 23.[32]
On February 6, 2013, the London premiere of the play was announced as an Off West End opening at the Bush Theatre, beginning in May 2013 under the direction of Nadia Fall. Its previews were scheduled to begin on May 17 before opening on May 22 and running until June 15.[33] On March 15, Disgraced was extended until June 22.[34] The play opened as scheduled on May 22.[18] That July, the producer Matthew Rego announced that the show was being considered for a Broadway run during the 2013–14 season.[35] On June 10, 2014, was announced to have a Broadway run starting on October 23, following previews beginning September 27 at the Lyceum Theatre.[36]
On Broadway
Disgraced began its limited run on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre with preview performances on September 27, 2014.[37] Opening night was October 23 with an original announced run lasting until February 15, 2015.[38] In January, the closure of the engagement was announced for March 1.[39] Direction was by Kimberly Senior, sets by John Lee Beatty, costumes by Jennifer von Mayrhauser and lighting by Ken Posner. The cast included Danny Ashok, Hari Dhillon, Gretchen Mol, Karen Pittman, and Josh Radnor.[37][40][41]
Reception
Critical reviews
Charles Isherwood of The New York Times, who saw the 2012 Off-Broadway production, said it was "a continuously engaging, vitally engaged play" that "bristles with wit and intelligence" and "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."[6] Isherwood selected the play as one of his year-end Ten Best Plays of 2012.[10] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter also selected it as among his Ten Best in New York Theater 2012, writing that Akhtar "staked a claim as one of the boldest voices to appear on the playwriting scene in recent years with this stinging swipe at the fallacy of the post-racial nation."[42]
Of the Chicago production at American Theater company, Chicago Tribune theatre critic Chris Jones praised the show as "intensely arresting."[1]Time Out Chicago's Kris Vire called the play "a compact, stunning gut punch addressing the cultural affinities some of us are allowed to escape and those we aren't."[43] However, Chicago Sun-Times critic Hedy Weiss noted that the play's five characters were all "identity-warped", and the show was a "minefield... that feels all too deliberately booby-trapped by the playwright."[44] The play won the Jeff Award—honoring excellence in Chicago Theater—for Best New Play in Chicago 2012.[45]
Entertainment Weekly critic Thom Geier suggested that the ending was underdeveloped, but that the play was well-executed: "Akhtar packs a lot into his scenes, in terms of both coincidence-heavy personal drama and talky disquisitions on religion and politics, but he usually manages to pull back from the edge of too-muchness. There is an admirable restraint to director Kimberly Senior's well-paced scenes. Mandvi, best known for his comedy, has a surprisingly commanding stage presence and captures the full range of his character's internal conflicts."[9]
Awards and nominations
The Chicago production received four Joseph Jefferson Awards nominations for the August 1, 2011, and July 31, 2012, theatrical productions season on August 21.[46]Disgraced was recognized as the Best New Work – Play or Musical on October 15, 2012.[47][48]
In its description of the play, the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama committee described it as "a moving play that depicts a successful corporate lawyer painfully forced to consider why he has for so long camouflaged his Pakistani Muslim heritage."[2] The Pulitzer jury was headed by The Washington Post's theater critic Peter Marks. Playwright Donald Margulies, Princeton University professor Jill Dolan, critic John Fleming and critic Alexis Soloski were also on the jury.[49]
Disgraced's Off-Broadway premiere competed in the 2012-13 season for Off-Broadway awards such as Drama Desk, leaving only new actors and technical staff eligible in the Broadway transfer in 2015.[57]
Will Eno is an American playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. His play, Thom Pain was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 2005. His play The Realistic Joneses appeared on Broadway in 2014, where it received a Drama Desk Special Award and was named Best Play on Broadway by USA Today, and best American play of 2014 by The Guardian. His play The Open House was presented Off-Broadway at the Signature Theatre in 2014 and won the Obie Award for Playwriting as well as other awards, and was on both TIME Magazine and Time Out New York 's Top Ten Plays of 2014.
Aasif Hakim Mandviwala, known professionally as Aasif Mandvi, is a British actor. He was a correspondent on The Daily Show from 2006 to 2017. Mandvi's other television work includes the HBO comedy series The Brink and the CBS/Paramount+ psychological drama Evil. His film roles include playing Mr. Aziz in Spider-Man 2 and Commander Zhao in The Last Airbender. His stage work includes appearing on Broadway as Ali Hakim in Oklahoma! and in productions of Disgraced (2012), which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013.
Emily Skinner, also known as Emily Scott Skinner, is a Tony-nominated American actress and singer. She has played leading roles in 11 Broadway productions including New York, New York, Prince of Broadway, The Cher Show, Side Show, Jekyll & Hyde, James Joyce's The Dead, The Full Monty, Dinner at Eight, Billy Elliot, as well as the Actor's Fund Broadway concerts of Dreamgirls and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She has sung on concert stages around the world and on numerous recordings.
Alice Ripley is an American actress, singer, songwriter and mixed media artist. She is known, in particular, for her various roles on Broadway in musicals, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal and Side Show. She most recently played three roles in the short-lived Broadway musical, American Psycho. Alice Ripley has released albums with her band, RIPLEY, including the single, "Beautiful Eyes", released in February 2012. She also performs as a solo artist, while in February 2011 she released Alice Ripley Daily Practice, Volume 1, a stripped-down collection of acoustic rock covers.
Becky Shaw is a play written by Gina Gionfriddo. The play premiered at the Humana Festival in 2008 and opened Off-Broadway in 2008. The play was a finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Thomas Robert Kitt is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, and musician. For his score for the musical Next to Normal, he shared the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Brian Yorkey. He has also won two Tony Awards and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Next to Normal, as well as Tony and Outer Critics Circle nominations for If/Then and SpongeBob SquarePants. He has been nominated for eight Drama Desk Awards, winning one, and he won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for Jagged Little Pill in 2021.
David Cromer is an American theatre director, and stage, film, and TV actor. He has received recognition for his work on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in his native Chicago. Cromer has won or been nominated for numerous awards, including winning the Lucille Lortel Award and Obie Award for his direction of Our Town. He was nominated for the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for his direction of The Adding Machine. In 2018, Cromer won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for The Band's Visit.
Clybourne Park is a 2010 play by Bruce Norris inspired by Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun (1959). It portrays fictional events set during and after the Hansberry play, and is loosely based on historical events that took place in the city of Chicago. It premiered in February 2010 at Playwrights Horizons in New York. The play received its UK premiere at the Royal Court Theatre in London in a production directed by Dominic Cooke. The play received its Chicago premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in a production directed by Steppenwolf ensemble member Amy Morton. As described by The Washington Post, the play "applies a modern twist to the issues of race and housing and aspirations for a better life." Clybourne Park was awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2012 Tony Award for Best Play.
Ayad Akhtar is an American playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. He has received numerous accolades including the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as nominations for two Tony Awards.
Erik Jensen is an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, and director.
Stephen Karam is an American playwright, screenwriter and director. His plays Sons of the Prophet, a comedy-drama about a Lebanese-American family, and The Humans were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2012 and 2016, respectively. The Humans won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play, and Karam wrote and directed a film adaptation of the play, released in 2021.
Anne Kauffman is an American director known primarily for her work on new plays, mainly in the New York area. She is a founding member of the theater group the Civilians. She made her Broadway debut with the Scott McPherson play Marvin's Room (2017) and returned with the revival of the Lorraine Hansberry play The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (2023) and Mary Jane (2024).
4000 Miles is a dramatic comedy play by Amy Herzog. The play ran Off-Broadway in 2011, and again in 2012. The play was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Lucky Guy is a play by Nora Ephron that premiered in 2013, the year after her death. It was Ephron's final work and marked Tom Hanks's Broadway debut, in which he earned a Theatre World Award. It depicts the story of journalist Mike McAlary beginning in 1985 and ending with his death at the age of 41 in 1998. The plot covers the high points and tribulations of McAlary's career as he traverses the clubby atmosphere of the New York City tabloid industry in what some regard as its heyday. The play includes his near fatal automobile accident and devotes a large portion to his recovery.
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is a comedy play written by Christopher Durang. The story revolves around the relationships of three middle-aged single siblings, two of whom live together, and takes place during a visit by the third, Masha, who supports them. They discuss their lives and loves, argue, and Masha threatens to sell the house. Some of the show's elements were derived from works of Anton Chekhov, including several character names and sibling relationships, the play's setting in a country house with a vestigial cherry orchard, the performance of an "avant-garde" play by one of the main characters, and the themes of old vs. new generations, real vs. assumed identities, the challenges of a woman growing older after successes in a career that seems to be ending, the hope and carelessness of youth, intrafamilial rivalries, and the possible loss of an ancestral home.
The Flick is a play by Annie Baker that received the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and won the 2013 Obie Award for Playwriting. The Flick premiered Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in 2013.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is an American playwright. His plays Gloria and Everybody were finalists for the 2016 and 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His play Appropriate made his Broadway debut as a playwright in 2023 and earned him his first Tony Award. His additional plays include An Octoroon and The Comeuppance. He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2016.
Between Riverside and Crazy is a 2014 play by playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor Stephen Adly Guirgis. The play won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the 2015 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, the 2015 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, the 2015 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play and the 2015 Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best New Play.
Lucas Hnath is an American playwright. He won the 2016 Obie Award for excellence in playwriting for his plays Red Speedo and The Christians. He also won a Whiting Award.
The Humans is a one-act play written by Stephen Karam. The play opened on Broadway in 2016 after an engagement Off-Broadway in 2015. The Humans was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
