Meryl Streep as Elizabeth Bishop and Kevin Kline as Robert Lowell were “a dream come true” for Thomas Travisano, the principal editor of Words in Air: The Complete Correspondence Between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, upon which Sarah Ruhl’s fine play is based. The Bishop-Lowell letters lend themselves to dramatic adaptation and Ruhl successfully selects and interweaves them in moving epistolary dialogue. Performed online after two years of pandemic restrictions, the Streep-Kline performance about loneliness saved and cultivated by friendship was perfect for cooped-up audiences to view remotely. Streep is probably the best female actor of her generation; Kline is no slouch himself. Many were anticipating this online performance, as was evident from the global enthusiasm expressed in the chat room prior to the production.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sandra Barry in Nova Scotia said something to me on email in advance that I considered. Would Meryl Streep, an...
