Poetry on Stage: Sarah Ruhl’s Letters from Max 

Join us for a reading of Sarah Ruhl’s play, Letters from Max, directed by Polly Noonan, as part of our Poetry On Stage series. An adaptation of Ruhl’s 2018 epistolary book, Letters from Max: A Poet, a Teacher, and a Friendship (Milkweed, 2019), this play shares letters and poems passed between Ruhl and her former student, poet Max Ritvo, as he candidly discusses terminal illness and tests poetry's capacity to put to words what otherwise feels ineffable.

Playwright Sarah Ruhl will play herself and Zane Pais will read the role of Max Ritvo. A brief talkback with the playwright will follow the program. 

This is a hybrid event, which will be offered in-person and via livestream. 

SARAH RUHL (playwright) is an award-winning American playwright, author, and professor. Her plays include Eurydice; In the Next Room, or the vibrator play (Pulitzer Prize finalist, 2010); The Clean House (Pulitzer Prize finalist, 2005; Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, 2004); Passion Play (Pen American Award); Orlando; and Letters from Max, which is based on her book with poet Max Ritvo. Her plays have been produced on Broadway,across the United States, and internationally and have been translated into fourteen languages. Her books include Smile: A Memoir and 100 essays I don’t have time to write. She is the recipient of a Whiting Writers’ Award, PEN Center Award for mid-career playwrights, Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, and a MacArthur “genius award” Fellowship. She teaches at the Yale School of Drama and lives in Brooklyn with her family.

POLLY NOONAN(director) is an actor and director, best known for her acting work originating roles in the plays of Sarah Ruhl. An Evanston, Illinois, native, Polly trained with Byrne and Joyce Piven at the Piven Theatre Workshop and is a proud alumni member of the Piven Young People’s Company. She has performed locally with the New Criminals at Piven, the Goodman, and Steppenwolf theaters; and regionally at Woolly Mammoth and Arena Stage in Washington, D. C., and the Women’s Project and Lincoln Center in New York City. As a director, she helmed the premiere of Carrie Luft’s Goodbye Stranger at Steppenwolf Theater Company, directed the Chicago premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s Melancholy Play: A Chamber Musica at Piven Theatre Workshop, and assistant directed the premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s Letters from Max at Signature Theatre in New York City. At the Poetry Foundation, she directed the reading of Sarah Ruhl’s Dear Elizabeth. She attended Vassar and the Art Institute of Chicago and has an MFA in directing from Brooklyn College. Also look for Polly in unexpected places, like the Lemonheads album cover and video of It’s a Shame About Ray and at the end of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. 

In-Person Attendance
Masks are strongly encouraged and available at check-in for those who would like to wear one. The Foundation reserves the right to update this policy if community levels of COVID-19 increase significantly. Read our full COVID-19 Health & Safety Guidelines. Guests are encouraged to register in advance.

Livestream Attendance
The livestream link will be shared with registered guests on the day of the event. In order to receive the livestream details, please register in advance.

The Poetry Foundation’s events are completely free of charge and open to the public. This event will include CART captioning and ASL interpretation. For more information about accessibility at the Poetry Foundation, please visit our Accessibility Guide.

In conversation with this program, you may also be interested in the Forms & Features: Epistle in-person writing workshop on Thursday, June 27, let by Maggie Queeney (registration required).