Hello Beautiful People,
Exactly one week ago, I was invited to see Disgraced on Broadway, currently playing at the Lyceum Theatre.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. Truthfully, I didn’t know much about the show, but sometimes that’s part of the magic – not knowing.
And so I went to see Disgraced.
Here’s the official “ABOUT” blurb –
Following sold-out engagements in Chicago, London and New York, “Disgraced comes roaring to life on Broadway! It’s terrific and turbulent.” (The New York Times).
The winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize, Disgraced is the “emotionally shattering” (Newsday) tale of the stories we tell our friends, the secrets we tell our lovers, and the lies we tell ourselves to find our place in the American Dream.
Starring Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother), Gretchen Mol (Boardwalk Empire), Karen Pittman (Domesticated), and Hari Dhillon (star of the acclaimed London production) and written by Ayad Akhtar—a new American voice who “finds urgent dramatic connections that serious theatregoers crave” (The Washington Post)—this provocative tale of big city aspiration and cultural assimilation dares to face the truth hiding just below the deception.
I think it’s impossible to fully encapsulate what this show is about in a spotlight piece. In a review. In any sort of press piece. It is, by far, one of the most brilliant pieces of theatre I have seen in a very long time. From the design, to the acting, to the directing, to the script itself – it’s a cohesive masterpiece.
There’s a reason it won the Pulitzer Prize.
It’s a story that is a start to a conversation that needs to happen today, in 2014.
It’s a story that forces you to examine the uncomfortable parts of humanity, of human nature, of all things not politically correct. It puts you in that uncomfortable position – and it asks you to dig deeper. To begin to put yourself in a place where questions can be posed, and, in an age of instant gratification, it asks you to be patient in getting an answer to said questions.
Disgraced is a play that encapsulates people. Not archetypes. Not stereotypes. Just…people. People in all their glory. People with all their flaws. People who are just trying to find their way in this crazy maze of life. The histories and hopes and dreams for the four main characters are all tremendously different. But at the end of those 85 minutes, you realize that they all have blood running through their veins, and they all are just trying to be the best versions of themselves…and some may do that better than others.
But perhaps the beauty in this piece that is as much as they crash and burn, as much as they do the unthinkable, the unspeakable, they recognize their flaws, and try to stay on the road to becoming a better version of themselves.
If you are living in New York City or the tri-state area, it would be a crime against art and theatre to NOT see this show.
Get yourself a ticket, and get it quick, cause time is running out.
Live, Love, Learn,