Good day, friends.

I had the pleasure of attending opening night of Necessary Angel Theatre Company’s latest production, “Letters from Max, a ritual” by Sarah Ruhl. Once again, PR Katie is coming in clutch with the sweet, sweet tickets. Thank you, Katie! (I feel like PR people deserve more recognition. Should I start a PR company for PR professionals? Lmk).

Ok, so on to the play. “Letters from Max, a ritual” is a two-person play based on a collection of letters exchanged between playwright Sarah Ruhl and her student, Max Ritvo (Jesse LaVercombe). Sarah and Max published the letters into a book, and that book was adapted into this play. The majority of the play is a verbatim reading of those letters, and it chronicles Max’s 5 year battle with cancer and sad passing.

Is that a spoiler? Not really. Below is an image of the main page of the playbill distributed (shoutout to my lovely seatmate, Emily, for pointing this out):

This is in stark contrast to the emotional roller coaster I was put through last week because of the lack of any indication of what to expect. The theatre community is fun.

I like the concept of the play. Two talented, artistically inclined friends conversing over the years and connecting on a deep level. I like the script itself, and I found the letters charming. I also like the idea of breathing life back into text that was actually spoken, in particular by someone who is no longer with us and was so clearly brilliant.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, a play about two artists conversing has a lot of humour in it that caters to an artsy crowd. Jokes about playwrights, authors, poets…admittedly, I didn’t get all the references, though I did appreciate them. I’m sorry, I hit my artsy limit. Regardless, sometimes I found myself getting lost during the production..e.g. at the beginning of Act II, I spaced out for a few minutes, only to discover that Max had gotten married. Oops.

Admittedly, the play felt long to me. It runs a bit over two hours with an intermission, and I’m not sure if the intermission is necessary. It didn’t feel self-indulgent (though there’s a quip in the show about how all poetry is self-indulgent), but it gets a bit repetitive. The drama sort of sits at the same level the entire show – not too many peaks and valleys. I suppose that’s sort of a byproduct of the fact that the show is based on actual letters.

In terms of the performances, I thought the actors were, on the whole, successful in making me believe they were their characters. I felt Max’s performance felt particularly compelling, moving, and earnest, though I mean no disrespect to the actress playing Sarah. I just think Jesse had more meaty material to work with.

The play is called “Letters from Max,” not “Letters from Max and Sarah.” Sarah Ruhl wrote this play about her relationship with Max Ritvo – about his journey, his path, his impact on her life. The plot is centred around Max, and I feel like the Sarah character mainly serves as support to uplift Max’s story. There are a few moments where we get a glimpse into Sarah’s life separate from her relationship with Max – for example, her speech about saying “I love you.” But I didn’t feel like we got to know her as deeply as we did Max.

If you’ve been impacted by cancer or terminal illness, I think you will find this show especially moving. It’s a good play.

As an aside, there was a line in the show that called critics “dicks,” saying it’s in their name. Fair enough, Sarah Ruhl. Fair enough.

Letters from Max, a ritual is playing in downtown Toronto until December 3, 2023. Thanks for the invite to the show! You can purchase tickets here.