The Invisible Hand Add a review

The Invisible Hand is a play written by playwright, novelist, and screenwriter Ayad Akhtar. The play centers around American banker Nick Bright, specializing in the Pakistani futures market, who is kidnapped by a terrorist organization looking to protect local community interests. It examines the nature of greed and pits the pervasive philosophy of capitalism against Islamic fanaticism, revealing unifying human passions, underlying tensions, and failings that span the ideological spectrum.

The play received its world premiere as a one-act play at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis in 2012. The play then was produced in an expanded two-act version at A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle and the New York Theatre Workshop. The Invisible Hand had its London premiere at the Tricycle Theatre in 2016 with a revised second act. The New York production received an OBIE Award for playwriting and won the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award. The Invisible Hand had its regional premiere at American Stage Theatre Company in St. Petersburg, FL. In 2022, The Invisible Hand was produced at LORT theatre, Gulfshore Playhouse in Naples, FL, directed by Kristen Coury.