About the Show

A poetic exploration of friendship and mortality through letters and poems.

Adapted from the 2018 epistolary book "Letters from Max: A Poet, a Teacher, and a Friendship," this intimate play delves into the profound relationship between a teacher and her former student. Through a candid exchange of letters and poems, they explore themes of love, art, mortality, and the ineffable, offering a deeply moving portrait of connection and the human experience.

Critic Reviews (5)

"Sarah Ruhl’s stage adaptation of the book she wrote with her former student Max Ritvo, who died of cancer at 25, is smartly written if emotionally distant"
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"Letters From Max didn’t simply make me feel, it had me overcome from emotion throughout."
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"Despite its doomy trajectory, this is an uplifting two hours, full of resonating thoughts."
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"Simple in form but vast in feeling, Letters from Max is a work of raw honesty, where words, cello, and silence tell a story of life at its most fragile and beautiful."
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"There’s a journey – we see Max’s writing improve as his health deteriorates – but the lack of dramatic conflict made me question how well this really works as a play"
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Cast and creative team