Winning the 2013 Pulitzer Prize was a bit of a distraction for playwright Ayad Akhtar鈥攁lbeit a welcome one鈥攁nd it put a pause on his seven-part cycle about the Muslim-American experience. But that interlude also provided him the opportunity to write a play he鈥檇 long wanted to: Junk, beginning performances at Lincoln Center Theater鈥檚 Vivian Beaumont Theater October 5 before officially opening November 2.
鈥淲hat I wanted to do was tell the story of how finance became the dominant philosophical ideology of our culture,鈥� says Akhtar, who makes clear that Junk isn鈥檛 intended to demonize the American financial system or the masters of the universe who run it. 鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to criticize capitalism and it鈥檚 even easier to enjoy its benefits,鈥� he says. 鈥淭his is how we live. These are the values. Rather than criticizing them, let me explore them in very complicated ways that make audiences not entirely sure how they feel about any of it.鈥�
In a twisting web of 19 characters, the central storyline circles around Robert Merkin, a billionaire finance shark planning to take out a loan against a company he doesn鈥檛 own and use that cash to finance that debt and come back and buy the company.
If it sounds mired in bulls and bears, don鈥檛 worry. 鈥淲hat I want [the audience] to do is have an emotional experience of this process of capital,鈥� says Akhtar. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 really clear what the essential human action of the scene is鈥攕omebody鈥檚 instructing somebody, somebody鈥檚 stealing from somebody, somebody鈥檚 betraying somebody else鈥檚 confidence,鈥� then Akhtar has faith the audience will emotionally invest.
Just as in his Disgraced, The Invisible Hand, and The Who and the What, for Akhtar, the interesting and the new鈥攖he opportunity for progress鈥�lies in the moral ambiguities of people.
鈥淸These characters] have some vision of the world that they believe in,鈥� he explains. By assuming the character for whom he is writing is correct from their perspective, Akhtar argues all sides authentically鈥攁ll brought to life by a powerhouse cast led by Steven Pasquale.
鈥淧asquale is going to do a really good job of confusing you,鈥� Akhtar says with a smirk, because ambivalence is his goal. 鈥淭he way you get people to understand something more deeply is to either have them fall in love with it or have them become so absorbed by an experience that they can鈥檛 stop thinking about it. I want to trouble the audience enough that they can鈥檛 release the play once they go home.鈥�
Watch this clip from Akhtar鈥檚 last Broadawy outing, Disgraced:
