As Thanksgiving rapidly approaches in a tumultuous political and social climate, it's guaranteed that dinner conversation will have an element of thinly-veiled hostility. A night at the theater may seem like an easy escape from uncomfortable conflict, but theatergoers interested in the upcoming production of "Disgraced" shouldn't be looking for a whimsical, feel-good production. Instead they should prepare to confront some of the most controversial issues surrounding race, religion and identity in modern
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The Arizona Theatre Company production of "Disgraced" runs from Nov. 12 to 29 at the Herberger Theater in downtown Phoenix, and its goal isn't to shy away from questions about faith and heritage. It confronts them head-on with a script that delves into uncomfortable questions, the answers to which are left for the audience to decide.
Director David Ira Goldstein is excited to bring the Pulitzer Prize-winning play to
"('Disgraced') is one of those rare plays that puts its finger right on the pulse of what's happening today," Goldstein said. "It's becoming more and more relevant. As the issues we're dealing with in this country about race and the
"Disgraced" was written by Ayad Akhtar, a Pakistani-American actor and writer known for his portrayal of racial tensions in
The play follows the story of Amir Kapoor, an American-born, Muslim-raised lawyer, and his wife Emily, a white up-and-coming artist that creates pieces with a focus on Muslim themes. They host a dinner party for their African American and Jewish friends, but what begins as polite conversation soon spirals into a fierce debate over tradition, religion, racial profiling, 9/11 and heritage versus personal identity.
"The play deals with racial and religious themes of how we exist in a society that's so multi-cultural, with so many faiths and religions, and how we negotiate that world with honesty," Goldstein said. "It doesn't necessarily lay out all the answers; (instead) it lays out questions that allow us to make our own personal exploration of how we feel about things."
Goldstein said he produced the play because of the complex questions that it asks. The themes also appealed to the actors in the Arizona Theatre Company production.
Actor Vandit Bhatt plays Amir's nephew, who struggles with his own personal and religious identity throughout the play. He talked about why this play was important to him in an email exchange.
"It's a really powerful play and I was utterly devastated after I read it the first time," Bhatt wrote. "It stayed with me for quite a while and soon it became very important for me to be a part of this play. ('Disgraced') has a wonderful power that forces you to face your own values and ideas without necessarily hitting the audiences over the head with it, and there aren't too many plays out there like that right now."
Although the play starts with a friendly tone, Allison White, who plays Emily, wrote in an email that it quickly takes a dark turn.
"When the play begins you might think you are in a romantic comedy," White wrote. "Tension is brewing in each character for one reason or another. Those reasons are deep-rooted and personal and important, and as they grow and tempers eventually flare, we find ourselves in a darker, more dramatic landscape. Still completely contemporary and recognizable, but fractured, broken and somewhat tragic."
The Arizona Theatre Company production began rehearsals in September and ran in
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Reach the reporter at skylar.mason@asu.edu or follow @skylarmason42 on Twitter.
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