excellent reading of “disgraced” directed by shishir kurup, with rajesh bose as the protagonist.
after the reading we discussed the impact of the play, what rang true and what didn’t. i made the point that even though ayad akhtar adds some complexity and nuance to the situations and characters he creates, he continues to remain within certain parameters of what constitutes the accepted *outside* view of the american muslim experience. he’s said that as a stereotyped minority, we cannot continue to define ourselves in opposition to anti-muslim propaganda. i couldn’t agree more. i long to break out of that box, that suffocating framework. however, *embracing* anti-muslim propaganda, albeit with liberal doses of psycho-analysis and some social commentary, is hardly the best way to be free, to define ourselves outside of the racist, colonial frame of reference where we are expected to exist.
once akhtar’s play is seen as simply a story rather than *the* story, we will move beyond a dead end. in the meantime, we have to acknowledge that largely white, affluent, and educated audiences interpreting the play as being “universal” are NOT the ones being represented on stage. we have to recognize that privilege. and we have to ask ourselves if it’s ok to drown out the pain felt by many who are part of a vulnerable minority (in an age of profiling, surveillance, and indefinite detention) with standing ovations and accusations of being too literal or too reductive or too unsophisticated to get it. it’s a sad reinforcement of existing power dynamics.
in an ideal, richly diverse, racially and culturally equitable world, where there are 1000s of plays to turn to for contrasting representations of muslim men, we will not need to tease out all these problematic issues. right now, i’m just looking for something more than the muslim terrorist/wife beater/religious fanatic (that pretty much describes akhtar’s entire body of work).
many agreed with me and told me so at the end of the play (including geva theatre artistic director mark cuddy). the best validation i got was from rajesh bose (who played the main character). he told me it was painful for him to tell the childhood antisemitism story in every performance because as a south asian man, it didn’t resonate with him. he wish he could skip it. i agree. skip the odd south asian rabidly antisemitic mother who spits at her son for liking a jewish girl (what???), the 9/11-celebrating-muslim obscenity, and the wife-beating, and the play becomes more powerful and interesting. but would it continue to be the most produced play in america? probably not…
thx to my pals Isabelle and Elaine for attending the event. love u guys!
