A Powerful Drama Exploring The War Between East & West
Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright Ayad Akhtar's thriller the Invisible Hand premiered in St. Louis in 2012, going on to play London's West End in 2016. A riveting mix of geopolitics and the war between the east and the west, the drama examines Islamic fanaticism pitted against capitalism, as well as the humanity of those on both sides of the ideological war. Now the thought-provoking heavy hitter comes to the Cleveland Playhouse for a limited run this winter.
The story follows investment banker Nick Bright, who is being held hostage in Pakistan by Islamic extremists. In order to buy his freedom, Bright must use his fiscal knowledge to play the stock market to benefit the terrorist group. As money, meant for charity, flows into the cell, tensions rise and cracks appear amongst fundamentalists, building towards a conflict within its own ranks.