TheaterWorks, Hartford, CT
through June 23, 2018
by Jarice Hanson
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ANAND BHATT, ERIC BRYANT, and FAJER KAISI |
“The Invisible Hand” is a bone-chilling, powerful drama that
shocks and surprises at every twist and turn of the plot. Artfully written by
Ayad Akhtar, 2013 Pulitzer Prize winning playwright of “Disgraced,” the play is
set in a prison in Pakistan after Nick Bright (Eric Bryant), a low-level
investment banker is kidnapped by mistake. The three captors we meet intended
to abduct Nick’s boss, but now have to figure out how to use Nick to raise ten
million dollars in ransom money.
We meet Dar (Anand Bhatt), a low-level guard who appears to
have a gentle soul. Imam Saleem (Rajesh Bose) is the boss who strikes a deal
with Nick to raise the ransom by doing what he does best—speculate in global
currency. Bashir (Fajer Kaisi) is a British-born Pakistani who studies global
markets and debates power with Nick. What is so fascinating about each of these
characters is that each is motivated to do what they do for different reasons,
and each changes in very unexpected ways. All four actors communicate with
precision and passion, and watching the tension they create on stage truly
insights the audience’s senses as we see the boiling pot that is the
playwright’s story start to bubble.
This is socially-conscious entertainment at its best.
You might expect that this play has both political and
ideological themes, but these are only backdrops for what happens as these
characters work against our assumptions. The result is that this play is much
more about greed, corruption, morality, and human desire. Director David
Kennedy understands how to build tension with extraordinarily controlled
pacing, claustrophobic set designed by Kristen Robinson, and effective lighting
by Matthew Richards.
This play was presented last year at the Westport Country
Playhouse where it won the Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Outstanding
Production, Outstanding Director, and, for Bryant’s performance, Outstanding
Actor. Ayad Akhtar’s most recent Broadway play, “Junk” has been nominated for
two Tony Awards, including Best New Play. This American-born playwright, actor,
and award-winning book author is someone to watch. I intend to start following his
career and can’t wait to see how he continues to create such intelligent work
about global capitalism, human desire, and the lengths people will go to for
power.