In 2012, Sarah Ruhl met Max Ritvo. He was a senior in her playwriting class, and she immediately recognised his talent for writing. Over the following years, they began a correspondence which covered many topics from poetry to Max's ongoing battle with cancer. Letters From Max was developed from that ongoing dialogue and movingly chronicles their shared love of life and literature. It is a deeply affecting experience that is beautifully captured in the performances of Sirine Saba as the putative mentor, Sarah, and Eric Sirakian, as the irrepressible pupil, Max. These roles are far from fixed, however, and as Sarah opines in the play, she learns as much from Max as he does from her as they both experience his coming to grips with his mortality. It is fascinating to watch these two intelligent and articulate individuals struggle with questions of art and death, and both Saba and Sirakian put in beautifully subtle and cerebral performances. If there is any fault to find in this lovely piece of writing, it is that it straddles the line between poetry and play in a way that can sometimes seem uneasy. The joy of the former is that it can be re-read and re-considered, pondered and pored over, at one's leisure, whereas the latter exists only in the moment. There is so much to unpack here and too frequently it is lost as the interchanges move on. However, it definitely makes for good reason to buy the play text so one can consider Max and Sarah's meditations at leisure. Blanche McIntyre's direction nicely makes use of the space available, ensuring the audience's engagement is not lost even in some of the denser discussions, while Dick Bird's simple set of a hanging glass partition does a brilliant job of conjuring so many relevant metaphors as it mirrors the discussion onto the audience. We couldn't help thinking of St Paul's epistle to the Corinthians, "For now we see through a glass, darkly...." That glass pane becomes a barrier and a window that is wonderfully evocative. Letters From Max is intense and intelligent theatre that is both touching and challenging.
Rated: ★★★★
Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Helen Murray
When, Where, Getting there:
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