Performances July 17-19 and July 22-26
Letters from Max, a play exploring the friendship between a college professor and her former student, opens Ancram Center’s summer mainstage season on July 17 and runs through July 26. Adapted by Sarah Ruhl from her 2018 book, Letters from Max: A Poet, a Teacher, a Friendship, written with Max Ritvo, the play is a mosaic of letters, poetry, music and dialogue, and a testament to the enduring bonds two people can create through the power of language.
When poet Max Ritvo applies to Sarah Ruhl’s playwriting workshop, he finds not only a mentor, but a friend. When his childhood cancer returns, the two begin writing letters to each other in a tender, poetic, and unexpectedly humorous meditation on friendship, art, and mortality.
Letters from Max is directed by Ancram Center Co-Director Paul Ricciardi, who describes it as “A play that explores poetry, grief, and the joy and humor found in a friendship. Ultimately, it becomes a profound conversation about the afterlife, legacy, and how we give shape to our fleeting time on earth.”
About the Cast
Giving voice to Sarah is Andrus Nichols, who starred in Ancram Center’s 2024 production of Constellations. Other credits include The Odyssey (A.R.T., Shana Cooper, dir.); Shirley Valentine (Katonah Classic Stage); A Lesson from Aloes(Hartford Stage, Darko Tresnjak, dir.); Ivo van Hove’s A View from the Bridge (The Kennedy Center / The Ahmanson Theatre / The Goodman Theatre. Jeff Award nomination for Outstanding Performer); Hamlet and Saint Joan (Bedlam / Olney Theatre Center / Central Square Theater; Helen Hayes and Elliot Norton nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress, IRNE Award for Outstanding Visiting Performer); Hamlet (title role) and Iphigenia and Other Daughters (We Players / Alcatraz Island); among others.
Max is being rendered by Evan Horwitz, an actor and writer based in Brooklyn. His stage credits include Ragtime (Trinity Rep), Tiny Beautiful Things (Baltimore Center Stage), It’s a Wonderful Life (Alabama Shakespeare Festival), Back the Night (Boston Playwrights’ Theater), At the Table (On The Verge Festival), and Anne Frank Live at the Plaza (Dixon Place).
About the Creative Team
Director Paul Ricciardi is founding co-director of The Ancram Center for the Arts and creator of the popular community storytelling program Real People Real Stories, now podcast on WGXC. At the Ancram Center, Paul has directed Made in Pakistan and Rupert’s Birthday (Plein Air Plays 2023 and 2025). He is Professor of Theatre Arts at the City University of New York/Kingsborough Community College.
Liam Bellman-Sharpe composed and will perform his original music in this production. He trained at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and holds an MFA in Sound design from the Yale School of Drama. His music has been performed in the US, Europe, Hong Kong, and Australia.
Sarah Ruhl’s plays include In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, The Clean House, Passion Play, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Melancholy Play, For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, The Oldest Boy, Stage Kiss, Dear Elizabeth, Eurydice, How to Transcend a Happy Marriage, Orlando, Late: a cowboy song, and a translation of Three Sisters. She has been a two-time Pulitzer prize finalist and a Tony award nominee. Her plays have been produced on and off Broadway, around the country, and internationally, where they have been translated into over fifteen languages. She has received the Steinberg Award, the Samuel French Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Award, the Whiting Award, the Lily Award, a PEN Award for mid-career playwrights, and the MacArthur Award. She teaches at the Yale School of Drama.
Ancram Center for the Arts is an award-winning theater located in New York’s Hudson Valley. Housed in an historic Grange Hall, Ancram Center is dedicated to presenting risk-taking productions and new work by nationally recognized theater artists in an intimate performance space. For tickets and information visit www.ancramcenter.org.
This productionhas been generously supported by Jane Plasman.
Letters from Max
by Sarah Ruhl
Based on the book by Sarah Ruhl and Max Ritvo
July 17-19 and July 22-26
Wednesdays to Saturdays at 7:30pm; Sundays at 3pm
Salon Sundays — July 19
A post-show talkback with the cast and creative team following the first Sunday matinee.
Pay What You Wish Wednesdays —July 22
Name your price at the door for the second-week’s Wednesday performance (in person only).
TGIF Hang — July 24
Join the cast and Ancram Center team on the porch for post-show drinks. Cash bar.