Sarah Ruhl es una dramaturga que crea obras teatrales vívidas y aventureras. Su escritura yuxtapone de manera conmovedora los aspectos mundanos de la vida cotidiana con temas míticos de amor y guerra, creando un contraste impactante. La influencia de sus raíces en la poesía es evidente en su uso rico y metafórico del lenguaje dentro de sus obras. Ruhl crea experiencias teatrales que son a la vez aventureras y profundamente conmovedoras.
Set in post-Obama America, the story follows Becky Nurse, a determined grandmother facing unemployment and personal challenges. As a descendant of the infamous Rebecca Nurse, she navigates modern struggles while trying to guide her troubled granddaughter and rekindle a past romance. Seeking assistance from a local witch, Becky finds that the magical solutions she hopes for don’t unfold as expected, leading to unexpected twists in her journey.
Exploring themes of identity and love, the play follows Mary, a woman trapped in convention, who encounters a lady cowboy near Pittsburgh. This meeting inspires her to embrace a new way of life, learning to ride and challenging societal norms. As Mary navigates her marriage to Crick, who spends their savings on a painting, the couple grapples with parenthood and their indecision about their baby's name and gender. Ultimately, it’s a journey of self-discovery and the quest for authentic connection beyond traditional boundaries.
The extraordinary story of one woman's ten-year odyssey that brought her physical, creative, emotional, and spiritual healing. With a play opening on Broadway, and every reason to smile, Sarah Ruhl has just survived a high-risk pregnancy when she discovers the left side of her face is completely paralyzed. She is assured that 90 percent of Bell's palsy patients experience a full recovery, like her own mother. But Sarah is in the unlucky ten percent. And for a woman, wife, mother, and artist working in theatre, the paralysis and the disconnect between the interior and exterior brings significant and specific challenges. So she begins an intense decade-long search for a cure while simultaneously grappling with the reality of her new face - one that, while recognisably her own, is incapable of accurately communicating feelings or intentions. Smile is Ruhl's piercing, witty, lucid chronicle of her journey. She explores the struggle of a body yearning to match its inner landscape, the pain of postpartum depression, the story of a marriage, being a playwright and working mother to three small children, and the desire for a resilient spiritual life in the face of illness. Brimming with insight, humility, warmth and humour, Smile is a triumph: an intimate examination of loss and reconciliation, and above all else, the importance of perseverance and hope in the face of adversity.
The narrative delves into the profound challenges of parenthood as an American mother and Tibetan father face an unexpected visit from a lama and a monk. They claim that their three-year-old son is the reincarnation of a Buddhist lama and wish to take him to India for spiritual training. This situation forces the couple to confront a heart-wrenching decision that will profoundly impact their family dynamics, testing the limits of their love and commitment to each other.
At a dinner party in New Jersey, two couples discuss polyamory as brought up by the introduction of a new temp, Pip, in Jane’s office. When they invite Pip and her two male partners, discussion turns to action and the exploration of unexplored desire turns animalistic, and then Jane’s daughter sees it all. How to Transcend a Happy Marriage blurs the lines of monogamy and asks how deeply friends, lovers and strangers connect.
In this chamber musical version of Sarah Ruhl's Melancholy Play, Tilly's melancholy is of an exquisite quality. She turns her melancholy into a sexy thing, and every stranger she meets falls in love with her. One day, inexplicably, Tilly becomes happy, and wreaks havoc on the lives of her paramours. Frances, Tilly's hairdresser, becomes so melancholy that she turns into an almond. It is up to Tilly to get her back.
100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write is an incisive, idiosyncratic collection on life and theater from major American playwright Sarah Ruhl. This is a book in which chimpanzees, Chekhov, and child care are equally at home. A vibrant, provocative examination of the possibilities of the theater, it is also a map to a very particular artistic sensibility, and an unexpected guide for anyone who has chosen an artist's life. Sarah Ruhl is a mother of three and one of America's best-known playwrights. She has written a stunningly original book of essays whose concerns range from the most minimal and personal subjects to the most encompassing matters of art and culture. The titles themselves speak to the volume's uniqueness: "On lice," "On sleeping in the theater," "On motherhood and stools (the furniture kind)," "Greek masks and Bell's palsy."
Exploring the profound connection between two iconic poets, this innovative play delves into their correspondence, revealing the emotional depth and complexities of their relationship. Through the lens of their letters, it captures themes of love, creativity, and the struggles of artistic life, offering an intimate portrayal of their personal and professional journeys. Sarah Ruhl's unique approach brings these historical figures to life, making their exchanges resonate with contemporary audiences.
Exploring the intersection of populism and radicalism in theatre, this collection features essays and interviews from influential playwrights and theatre practitioners. Contributions from notable figures such as Todd London and Diane Paulus, alongside interviews with prominent artists like Eugenio Barba, provide diverse insights into contemporary theatre practice. Edited by Caridad Svich and Sarah Ruhl, this provocative anthology serves as an essential resource for students, practitioners, and scholars interested in the evolving landscape of performance art.
The play takes place in what the author describes as "metaphysical Connecticut," mostly in the home of a married couple who are both doctors. They have hired a housekeeper named Matilde, an aspiring comedian from Brazil who's more interested in coming up with the perfect joke than in house-cleaning. Lane, the lady of the house, has an eccentric sister named Virginia who's just nuts about house-cleaning. She and Matilde become fast friends, and Virginia takes over the cleaning while Matilde works on her jokes. Trouble comes when Lane's husband Charles reveals that he has found his soul mate, or "bashert" in a cancer patient named Anna, on whom he has operated. The actors who play Charles and Anna also play Matilde's parents in a series of dream-like memories, as we learn the story about how they literally killed each other with laughter, giving new meaning to the phrase, "I almost died laughing." This theatrical and wildly funny play is a whimsical and poignant look at class, comedy and the true nature of love.