A very intriguing and troubling statement on identity. There is also a rumination on art and representation but it overshadowed by the racial arc. A wealthy attorney of South Asian heritage lives a posh life with his white artist wife in a post September 11 NYC. The machinations of drama ensue. There are digressions on thread counts, the Koran and fennel salad.

I’ve seen a number of plays which tread a similar path. There is an abundance of type in this exercise. That served to mitigate the violence to a degree.

4.5. Amir is a dick but I'm on his side for most of it. Though Emily is also right about artistic and cultural traditions being multi-faceted. Isaac fucking sucks.

Hello, complexity! While this dialogue-driven play was a very fast read (kind of frenetic, really), it was not simple or easy in any way. I think this should be required reading/viewing for anyone who has an opinion about Islam, about racism, about prejudice, about blame, about culture...so yeah, everyone should read or see this performed. Very powerful and thought-provoking, to say the least.

A play that reads like a story, I had no difficulty picturing the scenes and action in my head. Amir is a Pakistani American attorney trying to distance himself from the Islamic culture who is married to Emily, a white artist who is trying to find her voice on the canvas and finds inspiration in the Islamic world. Amir is trying to become partner at a primarily Jewish firm and the couple invites another couple over for dinner. What starts off as a dinner party among friends quickly dissolves into a mess as feelings get hurt and opinions come out. We also have Abe, Amir’s nephew who despite his parents moving to the US has chosen to fully embrace his religion and constantly tries to bring Amir back to it as well. I can only imagine how much more powerful this would be to see in person but the play in my head as I read it was very moving. The struggle of how to identify in a world where you are not quite enough of anything to fit in with any of the groups really resonated with me. Easy to read, easy to imagine, and easily leaves you feeling some indescribable way as you continue to process what you have read.

OMG.
OMG.
(and I can repeat these three letters 100 more times)
This is definitely the most powerful, straightforward and yet so complicated, relevant play I've ever read.
The dialogs are like gunshots. They just bombard you with all the "sensitive" issues of religion in America in the extremest way possible. And you know what? After reading this play, the phrase "sensitive issues" seems so meaningless. "politically correct"? hah. These characters rub the naked truth of being oppressed in your face in a way that you can't settle on any less brutally honest statement anymore.
Disgraced is, more than anything, bold. excruciatingly bold.

P.S: I need to re-read this several times. Now I'm just shocked. I need to process.

Fast, dense, different. Loved it. Awesome play.

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