"Sons of the Prophet," a new play by "Speech & Debate" writer Stephen Karam, does everything it can to make the audience feel one family's pain as it struggles through a series of sad events and disabilities.
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The story is about Joseph Douaihy (Santino Fontana), a worker for a deranged, Karen Walker-esque publisher named Gloria (Joanna Gleason). Hungry for a hit after being alienated from the literary world, Gloria attempts to buy the Douaihy family's story after learning that he is distantly descended from a Lebanese prophet. Shortly thereafter, Douaihy and his father are injured in a car accident. Once hospitalized, his father dies of a heart attack.
Douaihy's Uncle Bill (Yusef Bulos) is heartbroken and angry because the court refuses to sentence Vin (Jonathan Louis Dent), the young jock who partially caused the accident. Douaihy and his younger brother Charles (Chris Perfetti) struggle with their mounting emotional strife, as their family's privacy comes under scrutiny by the press.
Throughout the show, the introduction of every new piece of life-altering news threatens to overwhelm and weigh down the performance. At one point, Douaihy accurately notes, "We're like the Kennedys without the sex appeal." The use of humor, however, keeps the play from crushing the audience with constant despair.
"Sons of the Prophet" adds so many layers to its characters that they never become one dimensional or boring. Each person connected to the accident is given due time to express his grief and work through his loss.
Emotional but funny, "Sons of the Prophet" bares all and leaves no form of pain untouched. The exchanges between the characters are simultaneously powerful and humorous in the best way possible, but it will rip your heart out more quickly than you may be willing to let it.
"Sons of the Prophet" will run until Jan. 1, 2012 at the Laura Pels Theater at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theater on 111 W. 46th St. between Sixth and Seventh avenues. A limited number of $20 tickets are available for patrons under the age of 35 who register at hiptix.com.
