A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE
The Oldest Boy: A Play in Three Ceremonies
Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 4m
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Cast Size
1w, 4m -
Duration
120 minutes (2 hours) -
Subgenre
Adventure -
Target Audience
Adult
Details
Summary
In this moving exploration of parenthood, an American mother and a Tibetan father have a three-year-old son believed to be the reincarnation of a Buddhist lama. When a Tibetan lama and a monk come to their home unexpectedly, asking to take their child away for a life of spiritual training in India, the parents must make a life-altering choice that will test their strength, their marriage, and their hearts.
The Oldest Boy is a richly emotional journey filled with music, dance, puppetry, ritual, and laughter — Sarah Ruhl at her imaginative best. A meditation on attachment and unconditional love, the play asks us to believe in a world in which sometimes the youngest children are also the oldest and wisest teachers.
History
Performing Groups
- Time Period Contemporary
- Additional Features Puppetry
- Duration 120 minutes (2 hours)
- Cautions
- No Special Cautions
Media
“Poetic... marked by Ms. Ruhl’s inquisitive intelligence, clean-lined eloquence and spiky humor.” – The New York Times
“Ms. Ruhl's drama is among the most easily accesible from this poetic, venturesome playwright... yet it is marked by Ms. Ruhl’s inquisitive intelligence, clean-lined eloquence and spiky humor.” – The New York Times, Read More
“Gorgeous fluidity in the writing... Ruhl uses her beguiling storytelling skills, including a porous fourth wall and elements of ceremonial dance, music and singing, to make the mother's struggle a dramatically cogent one.” – Hollywood Reporter, Read More
“Sweet and spirit-filled... Ruhl uses the stage to explore unexpected places and ideas.” – Star Tribune, Read More
Videos
The Oldest Boy at the Lincoln Center Theatre
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The Oldest Boy at Marin Theatre Company
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Scene from Unicorn Theatre's The Oldest Boy
Licensing & Materials
This title is not currently available for performance. To be informed as soon as it becomes available in the future, please submit a license application.
Authors
Sarah Ruhl
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 ...