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Letters From Max

  • Sarah Ruhl
  • Full Length Play, Drama, Present Day, Contemporary
  • 1M, 1F
  • ISBN: 9780573710582

In this intimate, poetic play, a stage adaptation of Sarah Ruhl and Max Ritvo’s 2018 epistolary book, Sarah and her former student Max share letters and poems candidly addressing his terminal illness with humor and lyricism.

More information

Description

  • Full Length Play
  • Drama
  • 120 minutes

  • Time Period: Present Day, Contemporary
  • Target Audience: Adult
  • Cautions: Strong Language

  • Performance Group:
  • Community Theatre, Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups, Professional Theatre

  • Accolades:
  • Nominee! Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play (2023)
An adaptation of Sarah Ruhl and Max Ritvo’s 2018 epistolary book, Letters from Max: A Poet, a Teacher, a Friendship, this intimate, poetic play explores the relationship between Sarah and her former student, Max. With humor, lyricism and candor, the two friends share letters and poems as Max faces terminal illness and tests poetry’s capacity to put to words what otherwise feels ineffable.
REVIEWS:

"Ruhl’s warm and literary new play adapted from the book, is in no way a pity narrative. It’s a theatrical act of remembrance and a sacrament of grief, but it’s also a comedy... go see the play, and feel their relationship alive and tingling."

 The New York Times

"Intimate... a work about art and death and about how art deals with death."

 New York Stage Review

"Affecting... This epistolary play sends the message that a life cut short can call us to embrace our own lives and—as Max tells Sarah in a dream—to feel them swaying."

 Time Out NY

"Luminous... It is amazing how effortlessly these missives manage to capture their divergent personalities... there's a beautiful honesty to the whole thing... In creating this grief-stricken send-off, Ruhl gets to chat with her friend once more and keep his mind alive for all of us to appreciate — and we are all the better for it."

 TheaterMania

Premiere Production: Letters from Max premiered off-Broadway at the Pershing Square Signature Center's Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre on February 7, 2023. Directed by Kate Whoriskey, the production featured Jessica Hecht as Sarah, with Ben Edelman and Zane Pais alternating in the role of Max.

Characters

  • Casting: 1M, 1F
  • Casting Attributes: Strong Role for Leading Woman (Star Vehicle), Strong Role for Leading Man (Star Vehicle)

  • SARAH – A teacher who becomes a student (age roughly 35-45). Soft-spoken.
    MAX – A student who becomes a teacher (age roughly 20-25). Not soft-spoken.

    • Available Material

    Name Price
    Letters From Max Script This is optional. Order Now

    An adaptation of Sarah Ruhl and Max Ritvo’s 2018 epistolary book, Letters from Max: A Poet, a Teacher, a Friendship, this intimate, poetic play explores the relationship between Sarah and her former student, Max. With humor, lyricism and candor, the two friends share letters and poems as Max faces terminal illness and tests poetry’s capacity to put to words what otherwise feels ineffable.

    		$24.95

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