Producers confirmed today that the Pulitzer Prize winning play Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar will have a Broadway production this fall, beginning previews on September 27 and opening on October 23 at the Lyceum Theatre, 149 West 45th Street. In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Disgraced received Obie and Joseph Jefferson Awards.
DISGRACED will star Hari Dhillon, Gretchen Mol, Karen Pittman and Josh Radnor. American-born Hari Dhillon starred in the London production of Disgraced as Amir and was called "blazing and dangerous" by the BBC and "riveting" by the Financial Times. Ms. Mol's credits include Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things in London and New York. Ms. Pittman recently appeared in Bruce Norris's Domesticated at Lincoln Center Theater. Mr. Radnor is best known for his portrayal of Ted Mosby on the Emmy Award winning sitcom, "How I Met Your Mother."
Kimberly Senior, who helmed the two previous US productions, will direct. The design team includes John Lee Beatty (set), Jennifer Von Mayrhauser (costumes), Ken Posner (lighting), and Jill DuBoff (sound). Disgraced is produced by The Araca Group and Lincoln Center Theater.
The New York Times called Disgraced "a continuously engaging, vitally engaged play" and said that it "bristles with wit and intelligence." The Telegraph (London) called it "intelligent and thought-provoking" and The Times (London) said it was "riveting," "excitingly intelligent" and that it "zings with provocation, wit and understanding."
DISGRACED is the story of a successful Muslim-American lawyer and his wife -- an artist influenced by Islamic imagery -- enjoying their comfortable and successful life on New York's Upper East Side. When a co-worker and her husband come to dinner, what begins as polite table conversation explodes, leaving everyone's relationships and beliefs about race and identity in shards.
DISGRACED began as a part of the AracaWorks reading series three years ago and went on to be produced by Chicago's American Theater Company, LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater in New York, and London's Bush Theatre. Matthew Rego of The Araca Group said, "It has been incredible partaking in the development ofDISGRACED; each step in the play's journey has contributed to its power and poignancy, and we are so grateful for the contributions made by all. The opportunity to bring Ayad Akhtar's profound and incisive words to Broadway with such a dynamic and talented group of collaborators is a privilege."