They’re trying to recreate the world in the image of the one that’s in the Quran. That’s why you have people like the Taliban. After all, it’s the only one in which the Quran makes any literal sense. There’s a result to believing that a book written about a life in a specific society fifteen hundred years ago is the word of God: you start wanting to recreate that society. The Quran is about tribal life in a seventh century desert. Furthermore, he identifies the Qur’an as the inspiration for the Taliban: In attempts to defend himself, Amir highlights the “violence” present in the Qur’an, referencing “a man’s right to beat his wife”, and “renouncing the faith as being punishable by death”. Emily’s portrait of Amir, as well as Amir’s involvement in the Imam’s case fuel the discussion the four guests have during the dinner party, which provokes countless references to each character’s race, background, and own history of oppression. This decision ends up costing Amir his job and a promotion he’s been working towards for years. This question is further highlighted by the fact that Amir, following his wife’s plea, chooses to support the legal representation of a local Imam who is being accused of raising money at a mosque for terrorist organizations. This portrait raises questions around the relationship between Juan de Pareja (Diego’s slave of Moorish descent) and Amir, as well as both subjects’ place in the world, being portrayed through the eyes of members of the dominant, privileged culture. Emily chooses to paint Amir referencing Diego Velázquez’s Portrait of Juan de Pareja after Amir faced a racist situation at a restaurant. Through the play, we hear constant references to the racism and oppression Amir has suffered due to his Pakistani descent, which lead to him renouncing Islam and changing his last name to an Indian last-name given his father was born in Pakistan when it was still part of India (in 1946). Anthony Crane (Isaac) in Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar at Seattle Repertory Theatre.Īmir Kapoor, a Pakistani-American and a successful corporate lawyer, married to a white American visual artist, Emily, hosts a dinner party with Amir’s colleague Jory (an African American woman) and her husband Isaac (a Jewish man), who also happens to be a highly successful art curator who is including Emily’s work in his next show. How a member of a specific cultural or ethnic community behaves on stage becomes the representation of this specific community, especially in a theatre where we don’t see any other cultural representations on stage nearly as often as we should.Įven though most HowlRound readers will likely have some relationship with Disgraced, as the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner and the most produced play in America this season, I will provide some context and a brief summary for those who are not as familiar: Bernard White (Amir), Nisi Sturgis (Emily), Zakiya Young (Jory), and J. At this point, it didn’t matter to me how much “whitesplaining” of Islam the play contained or how much the white characters stated these Muslim characters where not true representations of these religions. To present a play with two Muslim characters who express anti-American feelings (including pride over 9/11) only reinforces the most negative stereotypes and assumptions about the Muslim community in America, where the Islamophobic discourse is as strong as ever. None of that undid the fact that, to me, it was a racist play. I could see why it would be programmed in regional houses: it is extremely well written, it deals with timely issues, and it presents characters we rarely see on stage. When I first read Disgraced, I thought it was a racist play.
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