An old rule of polite dinner party discussion is to avoid politics and religion.

But both are brought to the forefront in Ayad Akhtar's Pulitzer Prize-winning "Disgraced," making its Broadway debut after a fêted 2012 Lincoln Center appearance, also directed by Kimberly Senior. 

"Disgraced" is an issue play, but a very good one, addressing the complex way Americans view Islam post-9/11. Amir (a commanding Hari Dhillon) is a Pakastani American lawyer on his way up at a Jewish law firm. To grease his rise, he has changed his name and insinuated to his colleagues that he's Indian and Hindu. He's also renounced Islam — though whether it's because he actually believes that Islam is as bigoted as he says, or whether it's because he's ambitious and thinks he'll go farther with a new identity, becomes increasingly unclear.

But his wife Emily (Gretchen Mol) who is white, is infatuated with Islam. She's an artist and her paintings reflect the patterned tiles that decorate mosques; she tells her husband, "There's so much beauty and wisdom in the Islamic tradition."

When she and their nephew Abe (born Hussein) urge Amir to attend the trial of an Imam accused of money-laundering for Hamas, he gives in and does. His presence is noted by The New York Times. And abruptly, people around him suspect him of supporting terrorists.

But it's when he and Emily invite his colleague Jory, an African American, and her husband Isaac, who is Jewish, to dinner, that verbal arrows start flying. At first, there are four, Upper East Side liberals from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities enjoying each others' company— a New York melting pot. But after a few glasses of Scotch, their polite veneers are stripped away to reveal startling, often unexpected, prejudices. They are struggling to reconcile their intellectual ideas of diversity and tolerance with the tribal loyalties they grew up with. 

As Amir and Isaac (a very good Josh Radnor) face off over a fennel and anchovy salad, their battle turns brutal. They discuss the role of Islam in society and whether terrorism is justified. Emily joins in, and the characters reverse their positions and reverse again. Their identities shift, become less stable. Suddenly, we realize that Akhtar's point all along has perhaps been that those who think deep-seated clashes around race and religion can be solved through good intentions or scholarly posturing are hopelessly naiive.

"Disgraced" is a powerful shock of a play that is often difficult and uncomfortable to watch — but only because it forces the audience to examine and re-examine ideas and values usually pushed deep under the surface, especially in polite company.