CELIA IPIOTIS REVIEWS "LETTERS FROM MAX"

New York, New York March 11, 2023 --
The gentle, poetic Letters From Max will undo you. Completely uplifting and life-affirming, this dramatic love song digs deep into the recesses of your mind, delicately persuading you to curve into the frailty and inevitability of mortality.

Written by Sarah Ruhl (based on a book by Sarah Ruhl and Max Ritvo) and seamlessly directed by Kate Whoriskey, Letters From Max produces an exquisite symbiotic chemistry between Max (Ben Edelman) and Sarah (Jessica Hecht). Once a student of hers, Max becomes Sarah's guide. An unfettered set by Marsha Ginsberg, establishes place and time basically with a simple desk, chair and chemo lounge chair.

Between writing poetry for publication and falling in love, Max shifts in and out of one chemo bed after another, one protocol after another, but the gem-like letters exchanged with Sarah remain the one constant. Through Whoriskey's sensitive direction, the tender epistles matter-of-factly read aloud, shift lyrically between one another.

Years fill with picturesque autobiographical anecdotes and updates on families. Not much happens action-wise, but a universe shifts and reveals the beauty of love, of hope, and truth at the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre.
EYE ON THE ARTS, NY - Celia Ipiotis

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BALLET HISPANICO

Image
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's Línea Recta (Photo by Erin Baiano) New York, New York June 6, 202- - Ballet Hispanico celebrated its second season at City Center. True to its mission, Ballet Hispanico offers a voice to Latine choreographers as well as stellar dancers. The program opened with William Forsythe’s 1987 duet New Sleep , dedicated to the memory and legacy of Tina Ramirez, founding director (1929-2022). Fatima Andere and Antonio Cangiano, were almost always physically connected in high tech, quick partnering to composer Thom Willem’s aggressive score of metallic clanking sounds. Their exquisite pairing superseded the score, with luscious grand ronde de jambs, attitude pirouettes, torso undulations, arabesques en pointe. In Linea Recta , (2016), choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa has managed to pay homage to flamenco dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries in Spain. She modernizes the form featuring amazing partnering for eight dancers with music by Eri
Read more

DANCE AFRICA

Image
The National Dance Company of Ghana June 1, New York, New York-- The BAM Howard Gilman Opera House hosted DanceAfrica Festival 2023, entitled Golden Ghana: Adinkra, Ananse, and Abusua . Outdoors, a dynamic and crowded African street fair celebrated the culture and spectacle that would soon appear on stage. DanceAfrica’s Artistic Director Abdel R. Salaam hosted the National Dance Company of Ghana, the BAM Restoration Dance Youth Ensemble, and the Dance Africa Spirit Walkers. A two act performance began with Procession . First one drummer and then four more announced a pageantry of dancers, all in glorious costumes, paraded down the aisles from the back, following Candle Bearers in white. Soon children from the BAM Restoration Youth Ensemble pranced, skipped and hopped while honoring the elders, seated in the front row, who were the original founding members of DanceAfrica. DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers Memorial: The Living Adinkra , performed by DanceAfrica’s Spirit Wal
Read more

TRISHA BROWN DANCE COMPANY Review By Jonathan Matthews-Guzman For EYE ON THE ARTS

New York, New York May 10, 2023 -- Trisha Brown Dance Company has joined the pantheon of troupes with dead founders who are looking to living voices to keep their increasingly more versatilely trained bodies in fresh motion. How today’s artistic directors choose who gets to tack onto their institutional legacies is as particular as the culture of each company. The Graham Company, for instance, risks to invite contemporary choreographers who have not necessarily trained in Martha’s technique to create work in conversation with her vast archive. Interestingly, TBDC Associate Artistic Director Carolyn Lucas opted for a more conservative approach, inviting an alum. Judith Sánchez Ruíz danced under Trisha between 2006 and 2009, just missing the creation of "Rogues" in 2011, the program’s opener. At that time, Ruíz was abroad dancing for Sasha Waltz. Her premiere "Let’s Talk About Bleeding" closed the program outlining an intersection of Ruíz’s embodiment of American po
Read more