The author and MacArthur Award-winning playwright behind the Pulitzer Prize finalist In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) sits down with Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) to discuss her extraordinary memoir. In a series of piercing, witty, and lucid meditations, Ruhl chronicles her 10-year journey starting with her Bell’s palsy diagnosis and the transformation that followed.
"With poignancy and power, Smile helps us all to find ways of expressing our internal truth. It helped me to both learn and grow."— Gloria Steinem
Symphony Space is committed to the health and safety of its artists, staff, and audience. The author's books will be available for purchase, but there will not be a book signing at this event.
About the Artists
Sarah Ruhl is a playwright and writer of other things. Her fifteen plays include In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play), The Clean House, and Eurydice. She has been a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, a Tony Award nominee, and the recipient of the MacArthur “genius” Fellowship. Her plays have been produced on- and off-Broadway, around the country, internationally, and have been translated into many languages. Her book 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write was a New York Times Notable Book. Her other books include Letters from Max, with Max Ritvo, and 44 Poems for You. She has received the Steinberg Playwright Award, the Samuel French Award, Feminist Press Under 40 Award, the National Theater Conference Person of the Year Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, a Whiting Award, a Lily Award, and a PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award for mid-career playwrights. Ruhl teaches at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University. Her memoir, Smile: The Story of a Face, was published on October 5th. You can read more about her work at SarahRuhlPlaywright.com.
Cynthia Nixon made her film debut in Little Darlings at 12 and her Broadway debut at 14 in The Philadelphia Story. Since then she’s appeared in more than 40 plays, scores of films and TV shows, and won 2 Emmys, 2 Tonys, and a Grammy. Best known for her role as Miranda on HBO’s Sex and the City, she will co-star in the sequel series And Just Like That this December on HBO Max. In 2017, Nixon alternated the roles of Regina and Birdie with Laura Linney in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes. She appeared on numerous "Best Actress of 2018" lists for her portrayal of Emily Dickinson in Terrence Davies' much-lauded film A Quiet Passion. Also in 2018 she ran for Governor of New York state. This January she will co-star in Julian Fellowes’ The Gilded Age on HBO. Nixon and her wife, Christine, have 3 children: Sam, Charlie, and Max.
At the Thalia Book Club, readers and writers meet for intimate conversations about compelling new books and favorite classics in fiction, essay, biography and more. Evenings include an actor performing an excerpt, an interview, and a conversation with the audience.
Group discounts are available for groups of fifteen people or more. Please contact the Box Office.
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