Review: DISGRACED Skirts The Edges of Inconvenient Truths

Ayad Akhtar is a celebrated actor, author, and playwright ~ and deservedly so. He merits praise and respect for his determination to explore the territory of the Islamic mind and temperament in a world where suspicion clouds a full understanding of the faith's meaning and intentions. His collaboration in the production of The War Within was an incisive examination of the radicalization of a Pakistani engineering student. Likewise, his novel, American Dervish, was a courageous effort to unwrap and interpret the complexities of the Islamic mind, the scripture upon which it relies, and the challenges of assimilation.

In following, perhaps evolving from, this trail of exploration, DISGRACED, which won Akhtar the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, treads into a quicksand from which there is neither recovery, redemption, or revelation. There is only the sound and the fury of a soul adrift in the arid land of self-loathing and his irresistible pull toward tragedy.

As explosive as its onstage fireworks and confessions are ~ and there is definitely no shortage of intensity in this play ~ DISGRACED ultimately falls flat, unsatisfying, and almost objectionable like an expired bromide ~ pop pop fizz fizz but no relief.

Sometimes, works of art receive accolades more for their politics than for their depth of insight. Such is the case, in my opinion, with DISGRACED. It is political theatre with a topicality that, in post-September 11 America, resonates with the crowd that seeks to understand the alienation and madness of the ilk that has perpetrated grievous assaults on the country's sense of security. It conforms to an evolving imperative to inquire into the nature and true dictates of Islam. It coincides with fear about the intentions and even loyalties of the Muslims in our midst. It engages in questions about where the blame lies for the disenchantment and alienation that gives rise to radical Islam. Regrettably, like a lot of political theatre, it swarms with superficiality ~ just enough to get the juices flowing but not enough to generate enlightenment.

The strains that this entire cultural dynamic impose upon followers of the faith may lead persons like Amir Kapoor (Elijah Alexander), the bedeviled hero of DISGRACED, to abandon and deny their roots and to get lost in the mainstream.

Propelled by the Pulitzer and a Tony nomination, DISGRACED is making the rounds in theaters throughout the country, and Amir's trial has landed now on the boards of Arizona Theatre Company, under the direction of David Ira Goldstein.

The court in which Amir's tribulations are exposed is the opulent living room of his Upper East Side apartment. If there is anything stellar about this production, it is John Ezell's magnificent set. As if it were pulled from the pages of Architectural Digest, the room screams success. Lavish and upscale, it is replete with the well-stocked wet bar, fireplace, upscale furniture, prominently displayed tomes of art, a statue of Shiva, and a wall-sized painting that evokes hints of another heritage. It is an open invitation to West meeting East. It is a testament to Amir's success as a corporate lawyer who specializes in mergers and acquisitions.

Along the way to the American dream, Amir has abandoned his faith and withheld or lied about his origins and identity. He revels in the joys of the fully assimilated man. He is conflicted, however, by his wife Emily's every utterance about the universality of Islam and its historic contributions to the modern world. Emily (Allison Jean White) is absorbed in Islamic art history and aspires to have one of her own pieces hanging in the Islamic Gallery at the Tate. He poses reluctantly as she paints his portrait in the style of Velasquez's portrait of Juan de Pareja, the master's Moorish slave.

Amir's dream becomes a nightmare when Emily and his nephew Abe (Vandit Bhatt) implore him to defend an imam who has been jailed for financial contributions to Hamas. The reluctant advocate is exposed in the press, and the pieces of his well-crafted life begin to fall like dominoes. The agony of full disclosure comes to a head when Isaac, Emily's Jewish art dealer (Richard Baird) and his African-American wife Jory (Nicole Lewis) arrive for dinner and inconvenient truths become the centerpiece of discussion.

In the wake of Amir's crisis, there are betrayals of self and of and by others, each of which has the unrealized possibility of further development. There are moments of shock that elicit gasps from the audience, most notably when Amir, in the throes of frustration, admits to some degree of pride when the World Trade Center fell ~ "We were winning!" he cries, unforgivably.

For all its moments of intensity, DISGRACED comes off as a formulaic compound of annoying and sophomoric shibboleths and of deceits that litter the stage like a bad joke about a WASP, A Jew, a Black, and a Muslim walking into a bar ~ all sound and fury resembling unimaginative and contrived scenes from a TV soap opera.

In another sense, Amir's struggle is not unlike that of the iconic characters of the classic dramas whose themes have centered on identity, relationship, and the meaning of life. The problem is that, while the play travels the trail of these profound themes, it falls into the sand trap of triteness which is the inevitable shortfall of political theatre. Yes, the play has intensity. Yes, for the most part, it is well acted. However, we've seen this tale before and far better realized. The seeds are here for some great theatre, but DISGRACED does not rise to that level ~ notwithstanding its theatrics and emotional fireworks. We're a far cry from O'Neill, Albee or Mamet.

DISGRACED continues it run at the Herberger Theater Center through November 29th.

Photo credit to Tim Fuller

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