WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. – Sometimes, I suppose, we can get so caught up focusing on the conflicts that separate Muslim from Christian, Muslim from Jew, and Christian from Jew that most of us may not have much insight in the conflict that exists among Muslims..or among Jews, or among Christians for that matter.

The mystery, to most non-Muslims, though, that exists intra-murally among and inside Muslim families, though is brought to bristling, awkward life at the Jewish Ensemble Theatre in Disgraced , the 2012 play by novelist and screenwriter Ayad Akhtar that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Amir (Matt David) is an American-born, Muslim-raised high-octane, erudite attorney. His American-born, white, blonde, Christian wife, Emily, is an up-and-coming artist who focuses on Islamic themes in her art. Amir works in a Jewish-owned law firm and seems fairly agnostic in his religious beliefs except for being fairly dismissive of the Quran and Muslim culture, especially as it relates to the treatment of women.

Amir’s nephew, Abe (born Hussein Malik), played by Laith Salim, reveres his uncle, appears to us pretty assimilated, though he was born in Pakistan, and has concerns regarding the arrest of a local imam who has been imprisoned on what appears to be a trumped-up charge of financing terrorist-supporting groups. Amir’s love for his nephew moves him to appear in a non-official way at the imam’s hearing out of curiosity and to assuage his nephew, but the events of the day get written up in the newspaper, mentioning Amir’s name as being their “in support” of the imam.

Meanwhile, Issac (Michael Brian Ogden) who is Jewish, and married to African-American Jory (Casaundra Freeman), Amir’s law firm colleague, is an art dealer and will be representing Emily’s work an important show.

The article in the newspaper sets off a series of events starting with a chilly reception at the firm for Amir. Then, a dinner party between the two couple erupts into a boiled-over argument of identity politics in which language and feelings that have been hovering just below their skins takes over the story.

The script and this production are is brilliant, taut and razor sharp. The 90 minutes flies by. Akhtar’s dialogue is honed and perfect, leaving the audience to feel they are watching from the Manhattan apartment balcony of a real unfolding of events rather than watching a play.

Director Christopher Bremer began things right with his casting. Matt David embodies Amir, and perfectly coveys the relentless pursuit of assimilation and financial success, as well as the hypocrisy of his life and soul. Maggie Meyer as Emily is spot-on as the New Yorker art-scene climber with just the right balance of earnestness and patronage. Ogden and Freeman seem, at first, slightly mis-matched, but they are both such good actors that you forget about it quickly. Freeman does tremendous foreshadowing of things to come just with her eyes. Ogden does as well, with his body language. And Salim captures the angst and befuddlement of a young university-aged man pulled in multiple directions as he tries to decide what road he should take. The quaver in his voice when gripped with disappointment is honest and real.

The set design, by Elspeth Williams, nails the aesthetic of an upwardly mobile, mid-level, power couple’s Manhattan apartment, and the stage is dressed perfectly.

Without giving away spoilers, Disgraced has some tough moments to watch. The play is utterly revelatory about the conflict and obfuscation that takes place day-to-day and hour-to-hour for some people as they grapple with their own cultural identity, upbringing and race, and the calamity that comes when it all comes crashing down in an instant, from just one momentary decision, one turn of events, one opened door that you know was perhaps better left closed.

Click here for show days, times and details.