I directed the Canadian premiere production of Ayad Akhtar’s The Invisible Hand for Pi Theatre as part of The Cultch’s main-stage season in Vancouver, BC.

The Invisible Hand is a high stakes thriller follows Nick Bright, an American capital funds manager for the Citi Bank Corporation in South Asia, into a terrifying world of kidnapping and unrest in a remote region of Pakistan. As Nick negotiates to save his own life he begins to see his captors in a new light. The Invisible Hand is a complex look at how far we’ll go to save ourselves and asks: “what is the ultimate cost of our actions?”

Critical Response

“All the elements – the acting, staging, lighting and music – come together to make Pi Theatre’s latest offering, The Invisible Hand, an adrenalin-charged thriller that will glue you to the edge of your velvet-plush chair in The Cultch’s Historic Theatre.”
– Lincoln Kaye, The Vancouver Observer

“In this Vancouver April of impressive performances the acting is outstanding.”
– Jerry Wasserman, Vancouver Plays

“David Robert’s set is evocative and Alan Brodie’s lighting design is at times gorgeous, which creates a wonderful contrast to the reality of what is taking place.  Gordon Grdina’s original music, used largely in transitions, is spot-on.”
-Mark Robins, Vancouver Presents

“Richard Wolfe directs for Pi Theatre, a company always on the forefront of edgy, political theatre, and he brings together a superb cast of four for a tense, taut ninety minutes.                                            Don’t miss The Invisible Hand. It will rattle your cage.”
– Jo Ledingham, Vancouver Courier

 

Creative and Production Team

Playright: Ayad Akhtar
Director: Richard Wolfe
Set Design: David Roberts
Lighting Design: Alan Brodie
Costume Design: Christine Reimer
Sound Design: Chris Kelly
Original Composition: Gordon Grdina
Stage Manager: Jethelo E. Cabilete
Technical Director/Production Manager: Jayson McLean
Props Master: Jennifer Stewart
Assistant Production Manager: Mark Hetherington
Apprentice Lighting Designer: Mike St. Jean
Apprentice Stage Manager: Maria Zarrillo
British Dialect Coach: Brett Harris
Fight Designer: David McCormick
Make-up Artist: Cheyenne Mabberley
Dramaturg: Adele Noronha
Vocalist: Fathieh Honari