Review: Disgraced
Although the story could be told anywhere, Disgraced opens in a New York loft apartment, with the hues of a Manhattan skyline softly filtering through the windows. The set by Elizabeth Gadsby and lighting by Damien Cooper is lush – showered in privilege, belying the toxic shards that lie below the surface. This could only be New York, where dreams are made and Amir (Sachin Joab) is living the dream. A high-flying lawyer in a prominent Jewish law firm, he’s happily married to artist Emily (Sophie Ross).
To climb this ladder, Amir has renounced his Islamic heritage, but it is not just a matter of convenience – his apostasy is both considered and deep, born of the bigotry he experienced as a child. As the play unfolds, Amir’s internal cracks become more and more evident. An activist Islamic nephew, an Afro-American colleague and her Jewish art critic husband each apply their own pressure, and Amir is the fault-line. Disturbingly he finds the religious and racial bigotry he so loathes within himself, and so self-loathing follows. Its destructiveness inevitably becomes self-destruction.
Sarah Goode’s direction steers this play firmly through a series of revelations. As the pace quickens the sense of unease grows. Her attention to almost mundane detail, especially in the scene transitions, gives the audience time to ponder before the next twist.
This is a brave and troubling play, pushing past the cliché’s of correctness and probing the flaws in what we would like to call our ‘tolerant, liberal, multi-faith’ western democracy. The final image of Amir silhouetted against the New York skyline is uncomfortable and ambiguous, as are the intricacies of living in a post 9/11 world. (GW)
Until Jun 4, various show times. Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf 1 Theatre, The Wharf, Pier 4/5 Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay. $69-$116. Tickets & info: sydneytheatre.com.au or 02 9250 1777.
