
'Letters From Max' review — a poetic meditation on friendship and grief
Read our four-star review of Sarah Ruhl's Letters From Max, starring Jessica Hecht, Ben Edelman, and Zane Pais, which runs off Broadway through March 19.
This website uses cookies. If you continue to use the site, your agreement will result in cookies being set.
Acclaimed playwright Sarah Ruhl premieres her latest show with Signature Theatre, Letters From Max, in the 2022-23 season. Check back for information about Letters from Max tickets on New York Theatre Guide.
The Letters From Max play is adapted from the book Letters from Max: a Poet, a Teacher, and a Friendship. The book features correspondences between Ruhl and her former playwriting student Max Ritvo, who became a poet but died early in life from cancer. Through letters and poems, the two are able to explore topics like terminal illness that are otherwise hard to speak on, and the play traces how teacher and student each learn and grow thanks to each other's words.
The book received critical acclaim, with a Slate review reading, "Letters From Max blossoms [ ] from something more modest—a tender exchange between a caring teacher and an eager student—into a resonant and profound contribution from two fully formed artists to the literature of illness."
Ruhl is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for her plays In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) and The Clean House. Her other recent works include Eurydice, a play that was adapted into an opera for the 2021 Metropolitan Opera season, and Becky Nurse of Salem, which made its New York premiere with Lincoln Center Theater just a few months before Letters From Max off Broadway.
Kate Whoriskey helms Letters From Max off Broadway. She has directed nearly 20 productions on and off Broadway, with notable ones including Clyde's and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Sweat and Ruined, all by Lynn Nottage; Paula Vogel's Pulitzer-winning How I Learned to Drive; C.A. Johnson's All the Natalie Portmans; and Christina Anderson's Inked Baby.
Check back for information on tickets to Letters From Max in New York.
Get tickets to Letters From Max off Broadway, or sign up to receive our latest news and show alerts.
2 hrs 15 mins
February 7th, 2023
March 26th, 2023
12+
By: Sarah Ruhl, adapted from the book by Sarah Ruhl and Max Ritvo
Director: Kate Whoriskey
Choreography: Warren Adams
Producer: Signature Theatre
Cast list: Jessica Hecht (as Sarah), Ben Edelman and Zane Pais (alternating as Max)
Design: Marsha Ginsberg
Costumes: Anita Yavich
Lighting: Amith Chandrashaker
Sound: Sinan Refik Zafar
Other info: Projection design by S Katy Tucker
Read our four-star review of Sarah Ruhl's Letters From Max, starring Jessica Hecht, Ben Edelman, and Zane Pais, which runs off Broadway through March 19.