Ayad Akhtar

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Ayad Akhtar
Akhtar at the 2012 Texas Book Festival
Born (1970-10-28) October 28, 1970 (age 53)
Staten Island, New York, U.S.
EducationBrown University (BA)
Columbia University (MFA)
Occupation(s)Playwright, novelist, screenwriter
Years active2002–present
Notable workAmerican Dervish (2012)
Disgraced (2012)
Junk (2016)
Homeland Elegies (2020)
AwardsPulitzer Prize for Drama
Award in Literature, American Academy of Arts and Letters
Steinberg Playwright Award
Websiteayadakhtar.com

Ayad Akhtar (born October 28, 1970) is an American playwright, novelist, and screenwriter of Pakistani heritage. He has received numerous accolades including the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as nominations for two Tony Awards.

Akhtar is known as a playwright covering various themes including the American-Muslim experience, racism, religion, economics, immigration, and identity. For his work on Broadway, Akhtar received Tony Award for Best Play nominations for Disgraced (2015) and Junk (2017). He also authored the plays The Who & The What and The Invisible Hand. His plays have been produced on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in London.

He earned acclaim for authoring two novels American Dervish (2012) and Homeland Elegies (2020). He received numerous awards including the American Book Award for the later. He co-wrote and starred in the political drama film The War Within (2005) for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay. He portrayed Neel Kashkari in the HBO television film Too Big to Fail (2010).

Early life and education[edit]

Akhtar was born in Staten Island, New York City, and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His interest in literature was initially sparked in high school.[1] Akhtar attended Brown University, where he majored in theater and religion and began acting and directing student plays.[2]

After graduation he moved to Italy to work with Jerzy Grotowski, eventually becoming his assistant.[3] Upon returning to the United States, Akhtar taught acting alongside Andre Gregory and earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in film directing from Columbia University School of the Arts.[4]

Career[edit]

In 2012, Akhtar published his first novel American Dervish, a coming-of-age story about a Pakistani-American boy growing up in Milwaukee. The book was met with critical acclaim, described by The New York Times as "self-assured and effortlessly told."[5][6] American Dervish has been published in over 20 languages and was a Kirkus Reviews best book of the year. Akhtar's narration of the audio book was nominated for an Audie Award in 2013.[7]

Akhtar's first produced play, Disgraced, premiered in 2012 at the American Theater Company in Chicago; it was next staged at Lincoln Center Theater in New York.[8][9] The play won the Obie Award and the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and premiered at the Bush Theatre in London that spring.[10][11] The play opened on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre on October 23, 2014, and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play.[12][13]

Akhtar's second play, The Who & The What, premiered at La Jolla Playhouse in February 2014,[14] followed by a run at Lincoln Center Theater in June. The Who & The What has since been produced around the world with notable productions in Berlin, Hamburg, and the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria.[15] The latter production has run for almost two years. Its lead, Austrian film star Peter Simonischek, won the Nestroy Award for Best Actor.[16]

Akhtar's third play The Invisible Hand premiered at the New York Theatre Workshop in December 2014,[17] a production which invited comparison to the work of Shaw, Brecht, and Arthur Miller.[18] It won the Obie Award, the John Gassner Award, and was nominated for multiple Lucille Lortel Awards and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. In May 2016, the play premiered in London at The Tricycle Theatre and received nominations for the Evening Standard and Laurence Olivier awards.[19]

In 2016, American Theatre magazine declared Akhtar the most produced playwright in the country.[20][21]

Akhtar's latest play, Junk, premiered on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, produced by Lincoln Center Theater, on November 2, 2017.[22] It was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play and was awarded the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama.[23] In his final interview Bill Moyers referred to Junk as "not only history but prophecy. A Biblical-like account of who's running America, and how." Moyers added: "Our times at last have found their voice, and it belongs to a Pakistani American: Ayad Akhtar."[24]

In 2017, Akhtar won the Steinberg Playwright Award.[25] In his acceptance speech at Lincoln Center Theater, later published in The New York Times, he explained why he believes the theater is more important now than it ever has been:

The theater is an art form scaled to the human, and stubbornly so, relying on the absolute necessity of physical audience, a large part of why theater is so difficult to monetize. It only happens when and where it happens. Once it starts, you can't stop it. It doesn't exist to be paused or pulled out at the consumer's whim. It can't be copied and sold. In a world increasingly lost to virtuality and unreality — the theater points to an antidote. [...] The act of gathering to witness the myths of our alleged origins enacted — this is the root of the theater's timeless magic.[26]

Akhtar's second novel, Homeland Elegies, was published in September 2020 by Little, Brown and Company. According to the publisher's press release, the book is drawn from Akhtar's life as the son of Muslim immigrants; he blends fact and fiction to tell a story of belonging and dispossession about the world that 9/11 made.[27] The New York Times named Homeland Elegies one of the 10 Best Books of 2020, calling the book "pitch perfect... virtuosic."[28] The Washington Post, Time, Entertainment Weekly, and Publishers Weekly also named it one of the 10 best books of 2020, with the Post reviewer stating that he would not be "surprised if it wins [Akhtar] a second Pulitzer Prize."[29][30][31][32] Slate, O, NPR, The Economist, and Kirkus Reviews named Homeland Elegies one of the best books of 2020.[33][34][35][36][37] Barack Obama named it one of his favorite books of 2020.[38] Homeland Elegies was shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction,[39] and won the 2021 American Book Award.[40] An eight-episode limited series of Homeland Elegies is in development at FX, starring Kumail Nanjiani and adapted by Akhtar and Oren Moverman, who will direct all the episodes.[41]

Ayad Akhtar served as president of PEN America from 2020 - 2023.[42] In 2021, Akhtar was named New York State Author by the New York State Writers Institute.[43]

In 2023, it was announced that he would co-pen with Matthew Decker the libretto for the stage musical adaptation of Damien Chazelle's 2016 film La La Land, which will be directed by Bartlett Sher, with Justin Hurwitz and Pasek & Paul returning as songwriters.[44] In 2024 it was announced his latest play entitled McNeal, surrounding the ethics of artificial intelligence, would be produced on Broadway starring Robert Downey Jr. at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in Lincoln Center.[45]

Style and recognition[edit]

His work has received two Tony Award nominations for Best Play, an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters[46] and the Edith Wharton Citation for Merit in Fiction.[47] Akhtar's writing covers various themes including the American-Muslim experience, religion and economics, immigration, and identity. In 2015, The Economist wrote that Akhtar's tales of assimilation "are as essential today as the work of Saul Bellow, James Farrell, and Vladimir Nabokov were in the 20th century in capturing the drama of the immigrant experience."[48]

List of works[edit]

Theater[edit]

As a Playwright

Year Title Venue Ref.
2012 Disgraced Claire Tow Theater, Lincoln Center [49]
2013 Bush Theatre, London [50]
2015 Lyceum Theatre, Broadway [51]
2014 The Who & The What La Jolla Playhouse, Los Angeles [52]
2014 Claire Tow Theater, Lincoln Center [53]
2015 The Invisible Hand New York Theatre Workshop [54]
2017 The Tricycle Theatre, London [55]
2016 Junk La Jolla Playhouse, Los Angeles [56]
2017 Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Broadway [57]
2024 McNeal Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Broadway [58]
TBA La La Land N/A

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2002 Life Document 2: Identity Ahmad Directed, Writer; Short film
2005 The War Within Hassan Co-wrote script
2006 Long After Naseer Short
2008 FCU: Fact Checkers Unit Short

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2011 Too Big to Fail Neel Kashkari HBO television film
2015-2017 Theater Talk Himself 2 episodes
2022 Would I Lie to You? (US) Himself Episode: "Babysitting Lemurs"

Awards and nominations[edit]

Year Association Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2006 Independent Spirit Award Best Screenplay The War Within Nominated [59]
2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Disgraced Won [10]
2013 Obie Award Best Playwriting Won [60]
2013 Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award Nominated [61]
2013 Off Broadway Alliance Awards Best New Play Nominated [62]
2015 Tony Award Best Play Nominated [13]
2017 Nestroy Award Best Play – Authors Prize Won
2015 New York Drama Critics Circle Award Best Play The Invisible Hand Nominated
2015 Obie Award Playwriting Won [63]
2015 Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award Won [64]
2015 Lucille Lortel Award Outstanding Play Nominated [65]
2016 Evening Standard Award Best Play Nominated [66]
2017 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Junk Won [67]
2018 Tony Award Best Play Nominated [68]
2018 Outer Critics Circle Award Best Play Nominated [69]

Honorary awards[edit]

Homeland Elegies

American Dervish

General

Bibliography[edit]

Books

  • 2020 Homeland Elegies. Little, Brown and Company ISBN 978-0316496421
  • 2012 American Dervish. Little, Brown and Company[82]

Plays

Translations[edit]

Ashraf Ibrahim Zidan translated Akhtar's Disgraced into Arabic under the title Al-Makhzi.[87]

References[edit]

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  2. ^ Sokolove, Michael (September 6, 2017). "Plunging His Pen Into the Dark Heart of 1980s Wall Street". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  3. ^ Wagner, Annie (October 19, 2005). "Annie Wagner Talks to Ayad Akhtar and Tom Glynn". The Stranger. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
  4. ^ "An Interview with Ayad Akhtar; A Conversation Between Playwright Ayad Akhtar and Anita Montgomery" Archived May 3, 2015, at the Wayback Machine ACT Webpage
  5. ^ Langer, Adam (April 12, 2012). "Stumbling Through an American Muslim Maze". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 12, 2012. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  6. ^ Alter, Alexandra (January 6, 2012). "'Dervish' Whirls Into Publishing World". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
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  43. ^ Mathew, Shrishti (September 15, 2021). "New York state author, poet announced". Times Union. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  44. ^ Galuppo, Mia (February 7, 2023). "'La La Land' to Become a Broadway Musical". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
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  81. ^ Chow, Andrew (September 27, 2017). "Ayad Akhtar and Lucas Hnath Win Steinberg Awards". The New York Times.
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  83. ^ Akhtar, Ayad (September 10, 2013). Disgraced: A Play. Back Bay Books. ISBN 978-0-316-32446-5.
  84. ^ Akhtar, Ayad (October 7, 2014). The Who & The What: A Play. Back Bay Books. ISBN 978-0-316-32449-6.
  85. ^ Akhtar, Ayad (August 25, 2015). The Invisible Hand. Back Bay Books. ISBN 978-0-316-32453-3.
  86. ^ Akhtar, Ayad (November 30, 2017). Junk: A Play. Back Bay Books. ISBN 978-0-316-55072-7.
  87. ^ [1] [dead link]

Further reading[edit]

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Notes
  1. ^ Online version is titled "An American writer for an age of division".

External links[edit]

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