The Oldest Boy

In this stunning, quietly moving play from the inventive playwright Sarah Ruhl, an American woman learns that her son is believed to be the reincarnation of a Tibetan Buddhist lama. When a pair of Tibetan monks arrive unexpectedly at her door and ask her to give up her son so that he might be educated at a monastery in India, she is forced to confront her own identity as a mother and the implications of her husband’s Tibetan cultural identity, as well. As the couple struggle to make this heart-wrenching decision for their child, they must grapple with the nature of love and attachment, the importance of family and faith, and what it means to be both parent and child, and both teacher and student. In Ruhl’s imaginative, lyrical style, The Oldest Boy takes us on a rich and textured journey through loss, compassion, and the gradual opening of hearts and minds.