Review: DISGRACED Faces Your Fears at Sydney Theatre Company

Beg, borrow, or steal a ticket to this show. It is peerless in the present landscape of Sydney theatre, a razor-sharp scintillation that remarks most precisely on current culture. It is what this reviewer has long been waiting for, and prays becomes a zeitgeist for contemporary Australian narratives and artistic talent to aspire to, nay blossom into. A toast to director Sarah Goodes for a play that held such gravitas and pregnancy, of course to playwright Ayad Akhtar with congratulations on winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and also to Steve Francis for creating a sound design that transcended typicality and brought collective consciousness to this reading room drama.

Disgraced is a theatre production, but it is also your living room, your scuttlebutt at work, your clenched knees on the train. Disgraced is the emotion we accrue during news bulletins, and Friday nightclub commutes, and layovers en route to London. It is the simple tale of a small coalescence of opinions, the honeymooning Emily (Sophie Ross in messianic articulate splendour) and the lawyer-in-limbo Amir (unmissable performance by Sachin Joab). As they are caught between cancerous intelligentsia - Amir's colleague Jory (Paula Arundell in flawless form) and Emily's contemporary Isaac (Glenn Hazeldine heart-breakingly good) - and the changing landscape of Islamophobia seen through the eyes of Amir's nephew Abe (a moving Shiv Palekar), the idealism their relationship is built on will be nothing short of terrorised. A perfect storm boiled up in the confines of mid-noughties New York and the fabulous Upper-East apartment designed by Elizabeth Gadsby to optimal cyclonic conditions.

In Disgraced, themes of political, cultural, professional, even gender-based natures collide to offer the concept of a spectrum; a concept yet to be fully embraced by humanity at large, least of all modern-day non-Indigenous people. Amir and Emily make every attempt to settle on a spectrum wherein his disparity between religion and bloodline can be reconciled, and her exotic notions can heal the wounds of Islamophobia both within and without their cultured home. At every turn however there is a binary to rattle their resolve, a black-and-white to butcher their grappling for harmony; every audience member will feel this common thread between art and life. Finding components of Disgraced to critique is also spectral, because every perceptible flaw in the production is inextricably connected to the piece's highlights. Tropes of story and soundtrack that might seem predictable aid audience in coping with the more complex content, and there is indeed much to cause some squirming in the stalls. It is what makes Disgraced so exquisite to experience. And gosh is it funny in this way! Akhtar's text is a diamond of humour and politic.

Goodes' agile direction fleshes out a very verbal piece of work, almost Cowardian in its peak-hour traffic dialogue, mercifully finessed by Charmian Gradwell (Voice & Text) and Paige Walker (Dialect). Goodes uses level-changes like alchemy, and moments masked from the audience are pure witchcraft. The dynamism of Amir and Emily's everyday choreography allows some of the most potent writing to be woven seamlessly into table manners. When a chain of events is set off by Amir advocating for an imam accused of financing terrorist action at Emily's compelling, we see the fragility that is still a reality for the Muslim community, no matter where on the spectrum of faith they choose. Their worlds are under scrutiny, their communities are rusted with suspicion, and a fearsome homogeneity. There is an incredible amount of empathy to be gleaned from Disgraced, and an education well overdue for the collective of critical thinkers.

This microcosm of current affairs is one from which we should not tear our eyes away, for it is vital we become accountable for stopping the spread of ignorance-infection in our homes, schools, streets and workplaces. For all that Disgraced makes bold and biting commentary on the state of modern life, as all good theatre ought, it is also a highly entertaining and engaging piece of theatre. Strap yourself in for a disarming production showing great consideration for craft, respect for reality and just the right amount of irreverence to give you much to discuss long after the lights fade on this Manhattan monsoon.

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