By Bill Hirschman, FloridaTheaterOnStage.com, for SouthFloridaReporter.com, Oct. 8, 2015 – Awash in issues of Arab-American assimilation and Anglo antipathy, Disgraced is the classic contemporary example of the topical, thought-provoking drama that forces you to revalidate, even reexamine your perception of the tumult around us.
When we saw it on Broadway last year we knew immediately that it would wind up at GableStage because it was such a perfect fit for the theater’s bent for intellectually stimulating fare –so clearly borne out by its beautifully executed and bracing production this month. We didn’t realize that producing artistic director Joseph Adler had been trying to get the rights since it bowed off-Broadway in 2012.
While Adler was one of the first to get the rights, he put it at the end of current season. Since then, Disgraced has become one of most-contracted plays by regional theaters. One recently closed in Chicago and another plays as we speak in Durham, North Carolina; a 30-city national tour begins soon and it’s being adapted for an HBO movie.
