Review: Ayad Akhtar's 'Disgraced' Opens At Berkeley Rep
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- On Friday, November 13, the city of Paris was under siege. A small army of Syrian-trained men blew themselves up at a soccer match, sprayed cafes in the 11th arrondissement with bullets, and massacred dozens of young fans at a rock concert near the Place de la Republique.
The death toll was still climbing as the curtain went up at Berkeley Repertory Theatre on 'Disgraced,' a play about Muslim faith, assimilation, and identity in America. The timing couldn't have been worse, or better, for the West Coast premiere of Ayad Akhtar's Pulitzer Prize-winning play.
No doubt, everyone in the audience on opening night had heard about the bloodbath and carnage in Paris, and yet for the next hour or so, they would be forced to turn away, and instead watch this tragic story about a Muslim man chasing the American Dream. They would drink his drama like bitter medicine – an antidote to the sickness and horror playing outside on the world's stage.
Disgrace is the story of Amir Kapoor (played by Bernard White), a Pakistani-American attorney. He wears his carefully constructed life – an upper Eastside flat, a lovely blond wife (played by Nisi Sturgis), aspirations to become a partner at the firm – like a well-tailored Brooks Brothers suit. Yet, when just one thread is loosened, it all unravels, and he stands before us naked, ugly, a monster. But we can't look away. It is so easy to hate Amir, almost as much as he hates himself, just as it is so easy to hate the men who defiled Paris, almost as much they seem to hate themselves.
Self-loathing, fear, and prejudice are carefully sewn into Akhtar's soul-searching script. He describes Disgraced as a "litmus test; it tells you where you are in society, and has a capacity to connect people to themselves and others in a heartfelt way."
After the curtain finally came down on opening night and the actors emerged for their bows, the audience swelled with applause for a time, and then, as though on cue, stopped clapping. The room fell completely silent. There were no words, no calls for a 'moment of silence' for the 'victims', no 'prayers for Paris'. Just a balm of quiet inside the packed theater.
The play was over. Time to go home, back to CNN and watch real humans on the world's stage – naked, ugly, monstrous -- disgraced.
Disgraced , starring Bernard White, Nisi Sturgis, Azkiya Young, J. Anthony Crane and Behzad Dabu runs through Sunday December 20, at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. For more information and showtimes, go to berkeleyrep.org.
CBSSF.com writer, producer Jan Mabry is also executive producer and host of The Bronze Report. She lives in Northern California. Follow her on Twitter @janmabr.
