Disgraced
Ayad Akhtar

A World of Difference – “Disgraced” is a subtly written play for our very unsubtle times. Nowhere is this more clear than in the published script, when Issac, a Whitney museum curator, says during a dinner party attended by his wife, Jory, and their hosts, Amir and Emily, “I need to read the Koran.” When every other character, before and after this moment, notes the book, he or she says, “Quran.” There is a world of difference between the two – and that’s exactly the point of this superb, sharply written play. It doesn’t take long for fumbled attempts at understanding in “Disgraced” to lead to disaster. The same, sadly, is true of our world today.