Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"..."Disgraced" comes in at a swift 80 minutes and has constant surprises in its plot (I saw it for the third time Sunday night, so I knew what was coming, but I recall how I felt when I did not). Senior and Akhtar pretty much created this cultural event together, so it is no surprise that the Goodman production and the play feel very much at one with each other. The piece has some of the bite of a less substantial play like "God of Carnage" and a trajectory of sufficient intensity that some of the usual heads I see nodding on a typical night at the Goodman remained coiled and sprung, afraid of missing some volley or riposte. I won't much detail the who, the why and the what; disgrace is always more effective when experienced in person."
Chicago Sun Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...Among those many regional productions is the one currently on stage at the Goodman Theatre, where the play’s original director, Kimberly Senior, is again at the helm, with just one of the actors from the original Chicago cast reprising a role. Mounted on a far grander budget than at ATC (but certainly no better acted), “Disgraced” remains overly contrived, and more easily sensational than profound."
Windy City Times - Recommended
"...Akhtar's play draws no conclusions, its chief purpose being to "get people talking," as the buzzphrase goes. What you take away from hearing things hitherto unsaid, but that the author feels should be said, depends largely on what you bring, but next time you see crowds on St. Patrick's Day wearing badges proclaiming "Kiss me! I'm Irish!," take time to appreciate the decades of suffering and hardships upon which such small freedoms are founded."
Gapers Block - Recommended
"...Disgraced won a 2013 Pulitzer Prize for playwright Ayad Akhtar. But that doesn't mean you won't be squirming in your seat in mental discomfort as the 85-minute play progresses. The play tackles questions of Islamaphobia, Muslim-American identity and identity politics in general. The smartly written script offers equal-opportunity political incorrectness, something to offend everyone."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...This scene, the play’s centerpiece, ratchets up the tension slowly and carefully under the direction of Kimberly Senior, who’s shepherded Disgraced through all its major productions so far. Her cast here gets every note right, even as the stereotypes and smears swirl into a threatening storm. Essentially a collection of ideological arguments embellished with soapy twists, Disgraced is remarkably graceful in execution."
ShowBizChicago - Highly Recommended
"...Fear is a powerful tool - especially when that fear is rooted in misconceptions and prejudice. The disagreements over race, religion and class that have erupted in our post 9-11 world are abundant in the brutally honest "Disgraced," by novelist and screenwriter Ayad Akhtar. Beautifully directed by Kimberly Senior, this one-act play brings to light the circumstances of successful lawyer Amir Kapoor (Bernard White) and his American artist-wife Emily (Nisi Sturgis)."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...As its title implies, Disgraced is an equal-opportunity accusation in action, a crash course in betrayal that's fascinating to watch but would be dreadful to experience. Given shock effects that hit too close for comfort, seldom has the fourth wall been more welcome-or more invisible."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...This year, the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner is set to become the most produced play in the United States, and Akhtar's companion piece, The Who and the What, made its Midwestern premiere at Victory Gardens a few months ago. Its popularity is due to the brutal frankness of its discussion of the huge number of political issues Akhtar presses into his drama of the New York City elite, most notably, how the place of Muslims in America exposes the superficial or contradictory nature of unsophisticated multiculturalism. However, this production, which is directed by Kimberly Senior, who also directed Disgraced's debut and its run on Broadway, has elements which led me to wonder if the play has been widely misinterpreted as grimmer than it was meant to be."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...The first half of Disgraced raises many interesting points about how people define themselves, others, and "The Other." However in the second half, as Akhtar explores the extremes of these same attitudes, he resorts to deploying triggers that it seems unlikely that his characters would pull. This is especially true with Amir, whose self-doubt (self-hate?) gives way to the words and deeds that are emblematic of the elements of Islam that led to his apostasy, which is bound to lead at least some outside observers -perhaps not limited to the fictional Isaac-to draw conclusions about the religion that will make it difficult to find common ground. It does not help that these attitudes are reinforced by Hussein in the next scene. Get beyond the triggers, and this is a fascinating study of identity and attitudes in our not-so-post-racial America, but getting beyond them might be difficult."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Written by a man who fully understands the feelings and situations in this play, Ayad Akhtar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama begins as an interesting domestic play, but slyly evolves into a volcano of violence and emotion that takes the audience by surprise. Directed by Kimberly Senior with feeling and authority, portrayed by a capable cast of talented actors and supported by a group of skilled behind-the-scene artists, this may be the best production of a play this Fall."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Highly Recommended
"..."Disgraced" deals with that most controversial and sensitive of modern topics, the often conflicted nature of American-Muslim relationships in this country. The play was written by Ayad Akhtar, a Milwaukee-born writer whose parents immigrated to the United States from Pakistan. In just over 80 uninterrupted minutes, the play takes a hard look at the state of the relationships and strongly suggests that a gulf exists between Islam and Judeo-Christian America that can never be bridged."
The Fourth Walsh - Highly Recommended
"...If you missed DISGRACED before, don’t miss it again. If you saw it before, consider a repeat performance. Knowing how the play ends made me appreciate how intricate Akhtar’s script is at setting it up. And the drama all unfolds on Set Designer John Lee Beatty’s posh NYC apartment. From floor to ceiling to curtain, DISGRACED is a stunner!"
Splash Magazine - Somewhat Recommended
"... “Disgraced” is by no means a terrible night of theatre. It’s never boring, John Lee Beatty’s scenic design is incredible, and Mr. Akhtar’s exploration of identity works perfectly when he focuses the issue on a particular character instead of on an entire culture. The most problematic issue I had with “Disgraced”, even more than the questionable acting, is the overt Islamophobic tone it gave off. Walking out of this production I noticed many of the elder audience members were grumbling to each other about how awful Islam is. Its worrisome how "Disgraced", which is purported to be the most produced regional play this season, can stoke an already prevalent paranoia in people. Is that really a message we want to stir right now? I personally find it alarming, but I’ll let you decide for yourself."
