Pulitzer Prize-winning drama 'Disgraced' opens in Sarasota

Ayad Akhtar was in his 50s at the time he published his first play. But that play, "Disgraced," went on to have successful London, Off-Broadway and Broadway runs and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2013.

Bradenton-area audiences will get their first chance to see "Disgraced" when it opens at Sarasota's Asolo Repertory Theatre beginning April 1. (Preview performances are set for March 30-31.)

Asolo newcomer Dorien Makhlogi plays Amir Kapoor, a lawyer who is living the American Dream. He's a bright, wealthy and successful lawyer who seems destined to become a partner in his firm very soon. He's married to a beautiful and successful artist who is drawn to Islamic themes.

Because of post-9/11 Islamophobia, though, Amir has denied his Pakistani heritage, telling people at his firm that he's of Indian descent. A high-profile case and a dinner conversation with acquaintances -- a scene that's been drawn particular praise for its intensity, as it descends into an argument about Islam and the Quran -- forces a turn in Amir's life.

It's a complex and emotional play, Makhlogi said, a look at prejudice and identity that goes beyond what were used to seeing in theater, film and fiction

"It's really a testament to great writing," Makhlogi said. "As we were working on it, these deeper and deeper levels began to reveal themselves."

(In previous productions, incidentally, "Disgraced" has attracted some early big-name actors. Tampa's Aasif Mandvi played Amir in the Off-Broadway production, at the same time that he was a regular on Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show." Josh Radnor and Gretchen Mol were in the 2014-15 Broadway staging.)

Prejudice and mistrust of "the other" is obviously central to the plot and point of "Disgraced," Makhlogi said, but it's about something subtler than that. Amir's attempt at deception about his heritage, which he has hidden even from his wife, has its own repercussions.

"It's about prejudice," Makhlogi said, "and it's about identity and the labels we all give ourselves."

Akhtar's play also explored the conflicts between traditional Muslim faith and modern, urban American culture. Amir is not an observant Muslim, but the treatment of American Muslims after 9/11, including prejudice he himself faces, causes him to take a new and more complicated look at his heritage. He's resentful about prejudice but he ends up admitting to some long-buried pride the Muslims are fighting back after decades of being victims.

Critics have called "Disgraced" "devastating," "heady" and "moving."

Makhlogi, who has unearthed the play's depths through intense study over recent weeks, simply says "it's fantastic."

Details: March 30-April 24, Cook Theatre at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Show times: 8 p.m. March 30-31, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $12.50-$42; $8.50-$28 for preview for preview performances March 30-31. Information: 941-351-8000, asolorep.org.

Marty Clear, features writer/columnist, can be reached at 941-708-7919.

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This story was originally published March 23, 2016 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Pulitzer Prize-winning drama 'Disgraced' opens in Sarasota ."