The Oldest Boy

Regional Premiere
By Sarah Ruhl

An American mother and a Tibetan father have a three-year-old son believed to be the reincarnation of a Buddhist lama, a spiritual master. 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 — it’s Sarah Ruhl at her imaginative best.

“Ms. Ruhl’s drama is among the most easily accessible 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