Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture

Pulitzer Prize-Winning ‘Disgraced’ to Play at Syracuse Stage

Friday, January 13, 2017, By News Staff
Share
CommunitySyracuse Stage

After the phenomenal success of “Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins,” Syracuse Stage switches gears and turns on a powerful and explosive drama as the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Disgraced” opens on Jan. 27 in the Archbold Theatre at the Syracuse Stage/SU Drama Complex, 820 E. Genesee St.  Preview performances are Jan. 25 and 26.

"Disgraced" posterWritten by Ayad Akhtar, “Disgraced” is one of the most discussed American dramas in recent years. Confronting head on the personal and social fracturing of the post-9/11 landscape, the play creates urgent connections between the world depicted on stage and the world outside our doors. In the tradition of the greatest dramas, it is a play that raises hard questions and presents points of view that demand further discussion.

May Adrales directs “Disgraced” at Syracuse Stage. She has helmed two previous productions at the theater, “Chinglish” (2014) and “In the Next Room, or the vibrator play” (2015), and recently scored a success in New York with Qui Nguyen’s “Vietgone” at Manhattan Theatre Club.

“’Disgraced’ is a citizen’s piece,” Adrales said. “It makes you want to do or say something to express your point of view. It’s enlivening. I think we need more of that kind of theater.”

“Disgraced” is set in 2011, ten years after the 9/11 attacks. At the center is Amir Kapoor, a successful young attorney with a seemingly perfect life. He and his artist wife, Emily, who is about to have a major exhibition of her work, have a coveted New York apartment and he is on track for partnership in his high-powered firm. Their lives, however, are sent careening off the rails by a series of events, some of which relate to Amir’s identity as a Muslim and a Pakistani-American.

Adrales sees “Disgraced” as a play very much of the current political moment. The divisions that opened in the aftermath of 9/11 have worsened, she believes, which gives the play a great sense of urgency. “We have to be able to reach across the aisle and reach across the table and talk to people who have opposing views, and the play crystallizes how difficult that is,” she says.

Encountering such difficulties on the stage, though, is what makes theater powerful and worthwhile for her. “I enjoy theater that challenges me and challenges me to think in a different way,” she says. “I think the theatricality of ‘Disgraced’ is how it makes me question why I think the way I do. What are the influences that are affecting me and how do I project myself in the world because of the values I have. And so it is deeply meaningful to me to see the show. And that’s the experience I want the audience to have.”

Wherever “Disgraced” has been produced, it has inspired discussion. Syracuse Stage will be offering talkbacks with the audience following most performances. Discussion participants will include members of the Central New York community, Syracuse Stage staff and members of the cast.

 “Disgraced” is also part the Syracuse Symposium 2016-2017: Place, sponsored by the Syracuse University Humanities Center. Following the 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Jan. 29, the theater will host a panel discussion, “Place and Displacement: Staging Diverse Cultural Geographies in American Theater.” The panel features Christian DuComb, assistant professor of English and Theatre at Colgate University; Gail Hamner, professor of religion, Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences; Clea E. Hupp, associate professor and chair of the history department at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock; and Emad Rahim, endowed entrepreneur-in-residence at Oklahoma State University and visiting scholar at Rutgers University.

 “Disgraced” runs through Feb. 12. Tickets are available in person at the Box Office, by phone, 315.443.3275 or online at www.syracusestage.org.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Art Museum Acquires Indian Scrolls Gifted by SUNY Professor
    Wednesday, July 23, 2025, By Taylor Westerlund
  • Mihm Recognized for Fostering ‘Excellence in Public Service for the Next Generation’
    Wednesday, July 23, 2025, By Jessica Youngman
  • Rabbi Natan Levy Appointed Campus Rabbi for Syracuse Hillel and Jewish Chaplain at Hendricks Chapel
    Tuesday, July 22, 2025, By Dara Harper
  • Imam Amir Durić Appointed Assistant Dean for Religious and Spiritual Life at Hendricks Chapel
    Tuesday, July 22, 2025, By Dara Harper
  • College of Law’s Veterans Legal Clinic Receives Justice for Heroes Grant
    Tuesday, July 22, 2025, By Robert Conrad

More In Arts & Culture

Art Museum Acquires Indian Scrolls Gifted by SUNY Professor

The University Art Museum has received a monumental gift of more than 80 traditional Indian patachitra scrolls, significantly expanding its collection of South Asian art and material culture. The scrolls were donated by Geraldine Forbes, Distinguished Teaching Professor Emerita at…

Architecture Students’ Project Selected for Royal Academy Exhibition

In a prestigious international honor, a project by three students from the School of Architecture has been selected for inclusion in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2025, currently on view in London. The work, titled “Evolving an Urban Ecology,” was…

Vintage Over Digital: Alumnus Dan Cohen’s Voyager CD Bag Merges Music and Fashion

Bucking the trend of streaming music platforms and contrary to what one might expect of a member of his generation, musician Dan Cohen ’25 prefers listening to his favorite artists on compact disc (CD) and record players. His research and…

VPA Announces New Drama Department Chair

The College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) has appointed Eleanor Holdridge as the new chair of the Department of Drama effective July 1. Holdridge comes to Syracuse University from the Catholic University of America, where she served as professor…

Swinging Into Summer: Syracuse International Jazz Fest Returns With Star Power, Student Talent and a Soulful Campus Finale

Get ready for the sweet summer sounds of jazz in the city and on campus. The University is again a sponsor of the Syracuse International Jazz Fest, a five-day celebration of world-class jazz music and community spirit, taking place June…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.