The Invisible Hand (Play)

The Invisible Hand is a play written by playwright, novelist, and screenwriter Ayad Akhtar. The play centers around American banker, Nick Bright, specializing in the Pakistani futures market who is kidnapped by a terrorist organization looking to protect local community interests. It examines the nature of greed and pits the pervasive philosophy of capitalism against Islamic fanaticism, revealing unifying human passions, underlying tensions, and failings that span the ideological spectrum.

The play received its world premiere as a one act play at The Repertory Theatre of St Louis in 2012. The play then was produced in an expanded two-act version respectively at A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle and New York Theatre Workshop.The Invisible Hand had its London premiere at the Tricycle Theatre in 2016 with a revised second act. The New York production received an OBIE Award for playwriting and won the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award.

Mistaken for his boss, futures trader Nick Bright is kidnapped by an organization in Pakistan that is trying to affect positive change for Pakistan's local citizens, and is led by Imam Saleem. At the opening of the play, Nick befriends his jail guard, Dar, and convinces him to use the supply and demand chain in Pakistan to make some extra money trading potatoes on the side. Dar's complicity with the prisoner upsets his captor, Bashir, but also gives him an idea, using his financial knowledge to benefit the terrorist group. When the Imam Saleem is placed on the US terrorism list, the possibility of a healthy ten million ransom becomes impossible. Leveraging his knowledge of financial market, Nick comes to an arrangement with Bashir and the Imam to allow him to raise his ransom on the stock market, during which time, he will teach Bashir about how to manage the financials of his organization.

Using the information available to them, Nick teaches Bashir about the futures market and how one hedges bets on a small remote laptop. As money and information begin to flood into the terrorist organization, supposedly benchmarked for the people of Pakistan, tensions begin to rise between Bashir and the Imam. This conflict culminates in the Imam testing Bashir's will at the end of the first act, reminding him of his position and loyalty. The evening after this terrifying confrontation, Nick escapes his prison.

Recaptured in the second act, Nick has lost any trust with both Bashir and the Imam as their conflict intensifies. Covert money transfers and laundering schemes are developed and loyalties to the cause of the Pakistani people come under siege. Nick finds himself in the middle of a battle within the organization. As the government begins to monitor the group's activity, Nick suggests to the Imam that he park their cash in illiquid assets, such as real estate. Bashir subsequently follows the Imam, discovering him purchasing real estate with his wife and casting doubt onto his distribution of their newfound wealth. In a decisive move, Bashir throws a coup and overthrows the Imam, leaving Nick with no clear ally. At the end of the play Bashir reveals that he has put Nick's teachings to good use, taking the entire Pakistani currency hostage. Nick has earned his ransom and his freedom, and Bashir leaves him a free man—in the middle of a war zone.

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