Review: DISGRACED at SHUNYA THEATRE COMPANY

I recently attended a sold-out Sunday matinee performance of Disgraced at the MATCH, and as I walked out, I felt like someone had punched me in the gut. Ayad Akhtar’s debut play from 2012 seems as relevant today as it did fourteen years ago, and it packs a wallop! It was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for literature in 2013, and Shunya Theatre Company’s revival is definitely worth attending. You only have through October 11th to catch it, and it is searing and insightful. It marks a pretty heavy change for the company, which recently had produced a light romantic comedy before this dramatic pressure-cooker. This is a well-produced, well-acted, and well-directed show that proves community theater is alive and well, especially with Shunya's Southern Asian perspective. Just don’t expect easy answers or simple situations that resolve neatly. Disgraced asks hard questions about cultural identity, and it jumps right into the thorniness of racism and assimilation. 

The play centers around Amir Koopar, who has hidden that he is Muslim and from Pakistan from his high-profile law firm. It’s a secret that can be weaponized, because he is posing as an Indian immigrant to fit in. His white wife is an artist, and she is hoping that a Jewish husband of one of Amir’s coworkers will help her get a show. The coworker is a Black woman who is jockeying for partner alongside Amir. Amir’s nephew factors into the story, a man who has changed his name from Hussein to Abe for the United States. We soon discover each person has a secret tied to their identity, and once it comes out, the whole world explodes. 

Ninaad Vaidya gives Amir a stillness that makes you wonder about the seething beneath the surface. He gives a wonderfully taut performance of a man who can not let his guard down, and once he does, it has dire consequences. It’s a brave performance, and one that really works on every level. Adina Opalek plays his wife, and she is more transparent, freer to show emotions and express things. She gives a vulnerable grace to her role. Khurram Hamid appears as Amir’s volatile nephew, and boy, is he great at making the dramatic turn in the play’s final passages. Hamid is largely known as a film actor, but he gives life to this theatrical endeavor. Two Houston stage veterans, Christian Tannous and Caprice Carter, play the supporting roles of Isaac and Jory. Both bring an achingly real presence to their respective parts. Once they unleash their inner demons, all bets are off. 

Jennifer Decker has been brought in as a guest director here, and that is a wise move from Shunya. She is known as the artistic director of Mildred’s Umbrella, a company that focuses on female voices. Her presence here is well-suited to Disgraced. She guides this drama with an assured hand and has drafted in some of her most notable collaborators to add to Shunya’s stable of talent. The show is a testament to how well she handles characters wrestling with their own identity. Edgar Guajardo does double duty in set and lighting design, and both feel as realistic as the actors. He has delivered a confident solution to how the show should look and feel. 

Shunya Theatre Company is really opening up the messy side of Southern Asian heritage with Disgraced. This is a brave step, and they are asking hard questions. It’s a show that haunts you after it is over, and it is a well-crafted script that introduced the world to Ayad Akhtar. I was blown away by the subject material and how well it was delivered. This is definitely something the company, as well as its cast and crew, should be quite proud of. If you get a chance to see it, don’t pass it by. It is easily one of the strongest shows out there right now simply for its thoughtful meditation on difficult material. It will hit you hard and make you think long after the final curtain.  

Disgraced is running at the MATCH through October 11th. The show is a swift-moving ninety minutes without intermission. 

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