Gulfshore Playhouse makes investment, insurrection detonate in ‘The Invisible Hand’

“The Invisible Hand” is a term for which most ecnomics students have a working knowledge and most spiritual people have a personal interpretation. 

Both are likely at work in the Ayad Akhtar play of that name at Gulfshore Playhouse. What befalls its characters under both definitions is suspense on a level that never lets you relax into a deep breath.

Nick Bright, accidentally kidnapped in place of his high-power boss, is being held for $10 million ransom to fund a rebellion in the name of Pakistan’s working class. At Nick’s level, $10 million is an impossible ask, but, as is often the case, he’s the brains under the brass who was actually handling his company’s investment business.

When Nick offers to trade his market knowledge to build his $10 million ransom, money is not the only commodity that begins to accumulate. Distrust, greed and violence build among his captors, and the redistribution of power leaves him uncertain of both his fate and theirs. 

Producing Artistic Director Kristen Coury is handling this one, and she and the cast create characters so well formed you feel you know the humans under their public skins as Pakistani revolutionaries.

Harriet Howard Heithaus, Naples Daily News