RAVE REVIEWS ROLL IN FOR THE WORLD PREMIERE OF SARAH RUHL’S DEAR ELIZABETH, DIRECTED BY LES WATERS AT YALE REPERTORY THEATRE

The world premiere of DEAR ELIZABETH by Sarah Ruhl, a play in letters from Elizabeth Bishop to Robert Lowell and back again, opened at Yale Repertory Theatre on December 6 to rave reviews under the direction of Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Artistic Director, Les Waters. The play features Mary Beth Fisher as Elizabeth Bishop and Jefferson Mays as Robert Lowell and plays through December 22.

DEAR ELIZABETH features scenic design by Adam Rigg, costumes by Maria Hooper, lighting by Russell H. Champa, sound by Bray Poor, projections by Hannah Wasileski, dramaturgy by Amy Boratko, stage management by Kirstin Hodges, and original music by Bray Poor and Jonathan Bell.

Check out the reviews:

“Dear Elizabeth mesmerizes in every way. An articulate, imaginative, and moving theatrical experience. Jefferson Mays provides a baldly honest and sensitive portrayal as the vulnerable Lowell. Mary Beth Fisher is equally exquisite. Dear Elizabeth is uniquely its own engaging creation. In an age of mutilated language and truncated texts, such a play commands every ounce of our attention.”

E. Kyle Minor, New Haven Register

“Heartfelt, elegant, and even playful. These are dramatically rich letters. They are sometimes lyrical, sometimes trivial, and always conversational, vivid and truthful, making for some of the best duologues on any stage. There are also touched of Ruhl’s signature surreal moments: charming, silly, celestial, and breathtaking. Ruhl understands the painstaking struggle to find just the right word, the ache of a writer’s loneliness, the power of theatrical metaphor and the profound intimacy between artist and audience when it all comes together just right.”

Frank Rizzo, Hartford Courant

“Playwright Sarah Ruhl and her director and frequent collaborator Les Waters have re-set the rules and raised the bar for epistolary theatre in their bracing, moving and theatrically exciting production.”

Andrew Beck, Hartford Examiner

“Riveting. A moving, funny, and highly theatrical experience. Jefferson Mays and Mary Beth Fisher make Lowell and Bishop come fully alive. There is something truly magical about the way these performers make us feel that we are watching the evolution of two artists’ lives and work in a series of fully satisfying dramatic scenes.”

Joe Meyers, Connecticut Post

MORE ABOUT DEAR ELIZABETH

Watch interviews with Mary Beth Fisher and Jefferson Mays and a sneak peek at the production online.