The Invisible Hand – Westport Country Playhouse, Westport, CT, USA

Ayad Akhtar’s political thriller "The Invisible Hand" will keep you on the edge of your seat at the Westport Country Playhouse in Westport, Connecticut. The play directed by Westport Country Playhouse’s Associate Artistic Director David Kennedy, features the talented ensemble of Jameal Ali, Eric Byrant, Fajer Kaisi, and Rajesh Bose, and runs from July 19, 2016 – August 6, 2016.

Once again, the Westport Country Playhouse engages and thrills with its 2016 season, pushing the envelope and inviting audiences to go beyond their comfort zones and look at both sides of the story before coming to a conclusion, beginning with 2 plays in repertory, Art, and Red, the first which dealt with art viewed from the perspective of the collector, and the latter, which looked at art from the artist’s perspective, Buyer & Cellar, a hilarious fantasy comedy, followed by the fourth play of their six play season, the intense drama, The Invisible Hand. Playwright Ayad Akhtar, who won a 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play, Disgraced, delivers a powerful message in his play, The Invisible Hand, which requires the audience to listen to all sides of the story in an attempt to learn the real story, if the real story is indeed possible.

Eric Bryant (Nick Bright) and Rajesh Bose (Imam Saleem)
The Invisible Hand
photo by Carol Rosegg

We saw the play, The Invisible Hand, on July 23, 2016, which deals with the kidnapping of Nick Bright, an American futures trader who works at an international bank in Pakistan, and is held for $10 million in ransom. His only hope of freedom is to raise his own ransom money by convincing his captors to allow him to raise the money by futures trading. The play looks at the delicate interaction between captor and captive, the shift of power, corruption, relationships, and deceit, as the central characters interact for their lives, their culture, their beliefs, and their religion.

Rajesh Bose (ImamSaleem), Eric Bryant (Nick Bright), 
Fajer Kaisi (Bashir)
The Invisible Hand
photo by Carol Rosegg

Scenic Designer Adam Rigg’s stage design is brilliant in capturing the grim surroundings of captivity, and Director David Kennedy works his magic with the talented cast to deliver a powerful performance from Jameal Ali as Dar who reprises his Off-Broadway role, Eric Bryant as Nick Bright whom we last saw in the WCP’s performance in the comedy Room Service who proves his mettle as an actor in this intense role, Fajer Kaisi as Bashir, who was also in the Regional performance of Ayad Akhtar’s play, Disgraced, and Rajesh Bose as Imam Saleem, who brings Off-Broadway experience to the challenging role.

Rajesh Bose (Imam Saleem), Fajer Kaisi (Bashir),
Eric Bryant (Nick Bright), Jameal Ali (Dar)
The Invisible Hand
photo by Carol Rosegg

The Invisible Hand will linger in your thoughts long after you have left the theatre; bravo to Ayad Akhtar, to the cast, and to the Westport Country Playhouse. Intense, thought-provoking, and well-crafted!

The Invisible Hand Cast

The Creative Team

Performance Information: The play runs 1-hour 55 minutes with an intermission,

The Invisible Hand performance schedule is Tuesday at 7:00 pm., Wednesday at 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm, Thursday and Friday at 8:00 pm., Saturday at 3:00 pm and 8:00 pm. and Sunday at 3:00 pm.  Special series feature Taste of Tuesday, LGBT Night OUT, Opening Night, Sunday Symposium, Open Captions, Thursday TalkBack, Together at the Table Family Dinner, Playhouse Happy Hour, and Backstage Pass. 

For information on the play or to purchase tickets, please call the box office at 203-227-4177 or call the toll-free number at 888-927-7529, or visit them on the website at www.WestportPlayhouse.org.

The Westport Country Playhouse Box Office is open during Performance Days Tuesday through Friday from 12:00 pm until 8:30 pm, Saturday from 11:00 am until 8:30 pm, Sunday from 11:00 am until 3:30 pm, and is closed on Monday. Non-Performance Days, the Box Office is open Tuesday through Friday from 12:00 pm until 6:00 pm, and is closed on Monday.

The Westport Country Playhouse named as "Theatre Company of the Year" in December 2013 by The Wall Street Journal, opened in the 1930s in a transformed 1835 cow barn, which has, and continues to attract, a "who’s who" of prominent actors. Looking at the framed posters of past shows that line the lobby walls was like entering an encyclopedia of the arts. A few of the many renowned actors who have appeared on the stage there include Ethyl Barrymore, Dorothy and Lillian Gish, Tallulah Bankhead, Gloria Swanson, Don Ameche, Hume Cronin and Jessica Tandy, Jane Fonda, Danny Aiello, Blythe Danner, Jill Clayburgh, Richard Dreyfus, Whoopi Goldberg, Liza Minnelli, Bernadette Peters, Lynn Redgrave, Gene Wilder, and Westport residents Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman.

"Westport Country Playhouse, a not-for-profit theater, serves as a cultural nexus for patrons, artists and students and is a treasured resource for the State of Connecticut.  There are no boundaries to the creative thinking for future seasons or the kinds of audiences and excitement for theater that Westport Country Playhouse can build."

For information on upcoming events and other performances, please visit the website: www.WestportPlayhouse.org.

Upcoming Performances in 2016 – 2017

Westport Country Playhouse  
25 Powers Court
Westport, Connecticut  06880
United States
Box Office:     +1-203-227-4177
Toll-Free:       +1-888-927-7529
Fax:                 +1-203-454-3239
Box Office:     +1-203-227-4177
Website:         www.WestportPlayhouse.org
Facebook:       www.Facebook/WestportCountryPlayhouse

Follow the Westport Country Playhouse on Facebook at www.Facebook/WestportCountryPlayhouse.

Follow Luxury Experience on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LuxuryExperience to see photos and videos.

© July 2016. Luxury Experience. www.LuxuryExperience.com.  All rights reserved.