The Invisible Hand
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Cititour.com Review
The use – and abuse – of power clearly fascinate Ayad Akhtar, as is evidenced by both his Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “Disgraced” (now at Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre) and his even more compelling drama “The Invisible Hand,” now getting a smashing production at New York Theatre Workshop.
This time, we’re far, far away from the former work’s spacious, gorgeously decorated Upper East Side apartment. Instead, we’re in a sparsely furnished prison cell in Pakistan (in the near future), where an American banker named Nick Bright (Justin Kirk) is being held for $10 million ransom by Imam Saleem (an effective Darius Kashani), a Muslim leader who initially appears to be reasonably kind on the surface, but who proves to both frighteningly violent underneath and utterly unpredictable.
The Imam is aided in his task by two obedient followers, the somewhat simple-minded Dar (the very good Jameal Ali), and the much smarter Bashir (Usman Ally), a former Londoner whom the Imam calls upon to work with Nick after he concocts a scheme to turn $3 million of his own money (hidden in the Cayman Islands) into enough to buy his freedom. Without giving too much of the plot away, let’s say that Bashir proves to be a quick learner when it comes to the meaning of “puts,” “calls” and “sell short” and that Nick’s actions speak even louder than his words regarding his financial prowess.
The sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile interplay between Bashir, who has a bit of a chip on his shoulder about his background, and Nick, an almost stereotypically cocky American, forms much of the 110-minute work. And the sensational, volatile Ally and the brilliantly intense Kirk, under Ken Russ Schmoll’s smooth direction, handle Akhtar’s smart-as-a-whip dialogue without a hitch, while also creating full-bodied, flesh-and-blood characters.
Akhtar has once again pulled off the far-from-simple task of creating a highly theatrical work. More importantly, however, “The Invisible Hand” also turns out to be a worthy lesson about history, both financial and military, an astute examination of the nature of faith, and a vivid reminder about the basic tenets of human behavior. It truly is a power play.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
http://www.nytw.org/the_invisible_hand.asp
Cast
Jameal Ali, Usman Ally, Dariush Kashani, Justin Kirk
Open/Close Dates
Opening 11/19/2014
Closing 1/4/2015
Box Office
212-279-4200
Theatre Info
New York Theatre Workshop
79 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003
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