Described by Anika Vervecken.
Tickets are $29 for VocalEye users, while they last. Please call the Box Office to purchase tickets and reserve your headsets at 604-687-1644.
Running time is approximately 80 minutes with no intermission.
VocalEye Members may reserve a Theatre Buddy at least 48 hours in advance by email or phone 604-364-5949.
Don’t miss the Canadian premiere of this provocative Pulitzer Prize-winning play.
Amir Kapoor is a rising star in his law firm, set to make partner, who lives comfortably with his artist wife, Emily. He’s a Pakistani-American, born Muslim, who has since effectively shed his roots and religion. One evening, the couple host a dinner for Amir’s African-American co-worker and her Jewish art curator husband. Conversations around faith and politics lead to a startling conclusion that burns with tension and release.
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS (from Bill’s Notes)
AMIR, played by Patrick Sabongui, is an ambitious lawyer, age 40, of South Asian descent, raised Muslim but now a self-described “apostate.” Amir lives with his wife, Emily, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
EMILY, played by Kyra Zagorsky, is an artist, in her early 30s, Caucasian. She is married to Amir, and holds a much more favourable view of Islam than he does.
ABE, played by Conor Wylie, is Amir’s nephew, formerly named Hussein, having taken the name “Abe Jensen” due to Islamophobia. Abe, age 22, was born in Pakistan; he is in the United States on a visa.
ISAAC, played by Robert Moloney, is an art gallery operator, age 40, Jewish, husband to Jory.
JORY, played by Marci T. House, is a lawyer, Amir’s colleague and Isaac’s wife, African-American, in her mid-to-late 30s.
Written by AYAD AKHTAR
Directed by JANET WRIGHT
The play begins in the summer of 2011.
Location: a spacious apartment on New York’s Upper East Side
REVIEWS
“Disgraced takes place during the course of a dinner party. An Islamic-American lawyer and his WASP artist wife invite a Jewish art collector and his African-American wife to dinner. They all know each other through work, an area that is generally kept quite sanitized and politically correct. In a turn that is sure to put many off entertaining, though – or remind others of how quickly wine can make things uncomfortably loose – prejudices bubble to the surface like so much champagne and the night explodes into violence.” –WestEnder
“Intelligent and engrossing, Disgraced is a full-course meal and a terrific season opener for the Arts Club.” – Jo Ledingham
“Smart and relevant.” –Vancouver Presents
SUPPORT MATERIALS
DISGRACED – Trailer (video)
Interview with Patrick Sabongui and Kyra Zagorsky (video)
Portrait of Juan de Pareya by Velázquez
VocalEye at The Arts Club
