(OUTview NW) Theater RE-view: Seattle Rep's "DISGRACED" is a WOW!

And this was the calm before the Storm!     (Liz Lauren)

by MK Scott

It took some time, but the sparks really flew towards the end of Seattle Rep, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Goodman Theatre co production of “Disgraced” by Ayad Akhtar, in which I attended this past weekend.

The production starts with the playful couple of a Pakistani-American born lawyer, Amir (the FAB, Bernard White) and his Blond and Beautiful, Painter Wife, Emily (the gutsy, Nisi Sturgis).


But in the 90-minute one-act (Yes, another one), directed by Kimberly Senior with an incredible New York Apartment set by John Lee Beatty, Amir's character goes through several changes as he goes from charming to frustrated as he doesn't get the promotion he was longing for.

Dabu was loaded with charisma!     (Liz Lauren)

Emily's professional relationship with the Jewish Art Dealer, Issac (J. Anthony Crane) is mirrored by Amir's professional relationship with Issac's black wife,  Jory (Zakiya Young). With Issac and Jory as dinner guests of Amir and  Emily, not everybody is who they seem. We also meet, Amir's Pakistani-born nephew, Abe, (played with freshness and charisma by Behzad Dabu), who starts out as a passionate, innocent kid to one who is racially profiled and "Disgraced" at the end.

In post-9/11 times, as a majority of Americans view Muslims with suspicion, or outright bigotry, Amir has changed his surname of Abdullah to the more Hindu-seeming Kapoor, and his roots from the terrorism-prone Pakistan to the more benignly viewed India.

He’s renounced Islam as a religion, but embraces his culture just as Issac has embraced his Jewish culture. It is not clear what Emily and Jory's religious backgrounds are.

In one interesting line, Amir feels Islam are the new Jews, and that his own minority persecution at the workplace is not gaining any benefits.


Over appetizers and a non-Kosher dinner, Amir, Emily, Isaac and Jory engage in clever, ironic banter that turns incendiary.

Then the Taboo subjects of Religion and Politics come up as the tension builds. Secrets are revealed that leads to a WOW, shocking  (also violent) climax and we see and feel Amir's anger at the world and especially at himself.

Seattle Rep's DISGRACED" has been Extended until Feb 6th. Get Info and Tix HERE.