Ayad Akhtar's Pulitzer prizewinner adds an extra dimension to the subject [of American liberal guilt] by exposing the dangers of denying one's racial and religious inheritance ... a tough, compelling play that covers a lot of ground in 90 minutes ... Akhtar ... plots his hero's downfall with a remorseless logic and shows, with ironic cunning, how a liberal action in the cause of justice leads to Amir's undoing. -- Michael Billington * Guardian *
There's an unnerving frisson of electricity running through this new American play by New Yorker Ayad Akhtar ... a cut above the norm in its nimble wit, toughness and pressing 'now-ness' ... Above all, it shows how the intellectual fall-out from 9/11 is still radioactive among the professional classes ... the cleverness of the play lies in its recognisable roots in everyday sounding off ... at the same time, there's a thread of anxiety about origins, assimilation and cultural colonisation. -- Michael Coveney * Independent *
Personal frictions - lust, envy, a hotly contested promotion - combine with increasingly acrimonious discussions about faith, culture and assimilation to shake the characters' carefully composed sense of identity ... the candour and passion of the exchanges are breathtaking as Akhtar engages head-on with the most incendiary and fractious issues of our time. Wisely, he offers no easy solutions, but the play twists and turns through contradictory impulses of understanding and antipathy. -- Sarah Hemming * Financial Times *
Intelligent, thought-provoking ... essential necessity, urgency and relevance -- Dominic Cavendish * Telegraph *
