The Pulitzer Prize winning play DISGRACED by Ayad Akhtar will begin rehearsals tomorrow for its Broadway production this fall, and producers announced today that Danny Ashok, who played Abe in the acclaimed Bush Theatre production in London will play the role on Broadway. Previews begin on September 27 and opening night is October 23 at the Lyceum Theatre, 149 West 45th Street. In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, DISGRACED received Obie and Joseph Jefferson Awards.
Danny Ashok’s theatre credits include: The Djinns of Eidgah (The Royal Court Theatre), Disgraced (The Bush Theatre), The Royal Duchess Superstore (The Barking Broadway), Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 (Theatre Royal Bath), Blood & Gifts (The National Theatre). TV credits include: “Silk” (BBC), “The Dumping Ground” (BBC), “Casualty” (BBC), “Coronation Street” (ITV), “The Tower,” “The Bill” (ITV). Film credits include: Perfume, Four Lions, The Wasp & The Caterpillar. DISGRACED will mark his Broadway debut.
He joins the previously announced DISGRACED cast: Hari Dhillon, Gretchen Mol, Karen Pittman and Josh Radnor. American-born Hari Dhillon starred in the London production of DISGRACED as Amir and was called “blazing and dangerous” by the BBC and “riveting” by the Financial Times. Ms. Mol’s credits include Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things in London and New York. Ms. Pittman recently appeared in Bruce Norris’s Domesticated at Lincoln Center Theater. Mr. Radnor is best known for his portrayal of Ted Mosby on the Emmy Award winning sitcom, “How I Met Your Mother.”
Kimberly Senior, who helmed the two previous US productions, will direct.
The New York Times called DISGRACED “a continuously engaging, vitally engaged play” and said that it “bristles with wit and intelligence.” The Telegraph (London) called it “intelligent and thought-provoking” and The Times (London) said it was “riveting,” “excitingly intelligent” and that it “zings with provocation, wit and understanding.”
DISGRACED is the story of a successful Muslim-American lawyer and his wife — an artist influenced by Islamic imagery — enjoying their comfortable and successful life on New York’s Upper East Side. When a co-worker and her husband come to dinner, what begins as polite table conversation explodes, leaving everyone’s relationships and beliefs about race and identity in shards.
