Sarah Ruhl’s The Oldest Boy, Starring Celia Keenan-Bolger, Begins Previews Off-Broadway

The world premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s The Oldest Boy, starring three-time Tony nominee Celia Keenan-Bolger and James Yaegashi, begins performances off-Broadway on October 9. The production, directed by Rebecca Taichman, will officially open at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater on November 3.

In The Oldest Boy, Tenzin, the toddler son of an American woman (Keenan-Bolger) and a Tibetan man (Yaegashi), is recognized as the reincarnation of a high Buddhist teacher. Differing cultures contend with competing ideas of faith and love when two monks seek permission to take Tenzin to a monastery in India to begin his training as a spiritual master. His parents must decide whether to send their young son away or keep him home.

In addition to Keenan-Bolger and Yaegashi, the cast of The Oldest Boy includes Ernest Abuba, Tsering Dorjee, Takemi Kitamura, James Saito, Jon Norman Schneider and Nami Yamamoto.