Disgraced

Kathy and I are avid theater-goers, which is one of the many reasons we love living in Sarasota. It’s Florida’s “cultural coast” with world-class performing arts halls, ballet, film, opera, theatre, and visual art exhibitions. Home Resource has been a regular supporter of many of our local arts and culture organizations and recently was pleased to support the Asolo Rep Theatre by providing furnishings for the Pulitzer Prize-winning Disgraced. The play is set inside the Manhattan Upper East Side apartment of Amir, a successful lawyer, and Emily, his artist wife. Amir is a Pakistani-American Muslim who is trying to run from his Muslim roots in an effort to better assimilate with his New York lifestyle. Emily is a white American whose work is heavily inspired by Islamic art and tremendously appreciates the Islamic culture.

The couple invite their two friends over for dinner; Amir’s African-American co-worker at the law firm, Jory, and her husband Isaac, a Jewish museum curator interested in Emily’s work for his next show. What was supposed to be a fun night of pleasant conversations, wine, and gourmet food turned into a violent direct conflict over faith, religious pride, terrorism, and stereotypes.

If you have never seen Disgraced, I would undoubtedly encourage you to go see it. It is highly engaging and is simply breathtaking. You will hear statements that will make you think. Disgraced originally played with sold-out houses in Chicago, London, New York’s Lincoln Center, then Broadway.