“Though it employs very little dialogue, there’s nothing quiet about Small Mouth Sounds, Bess Wohl’s luminous play uses silence to dig into the core of human pain, which, like everything unendurable, can also be very funny…and as entertaining as it is transcendent.”
—Time Out New York.
—Time Out New York.
ABOUT
SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS
BY BESS WOHL
DIRECTED BY TANYA MARTIN
DIRECTED BY TANYA MARTIN
In the overwhelming quiet of the woods, six runaways from city life embark on a silent retreat. As these strangers confront internal demons both profound and absurd, their vows of silence collide with the achingly human need to connect. Filled with awkward and insightful humor, SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS is the unique and compassionate new play that asks how we address life’s biggest questions when words fail us.
Written by Drama Desk Award winner Bess Wohl and directed by Tanya Martin for its professional Rhode Island premiere at the Wilbury Theatre Group, you won't want to miss this play "unlike any other" (Huffington Post) that will “leave you moved, refreshed and even enlightened," (The New York Times).
Written by Drama Desk Award winner Bess Wohl and directed by Tanya Martin for its professional Rhode Island premiere at the Wilbury Theatre Group, you won't want to miss this play "unlike any other" (Huffington Post) that will “leave you moved, refreshed and even enlightened," (The New York Times).
CAST + CREATIVE TEAM
Beth Alianiello
Aimie Lytle
Stuart Wilson
|
Harry Aspinwall
Jennifer Mischley
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Olivia Hodson*
Dave Rabinow
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Small Mouth Sounds
By Bess Wohl Directed by Tanya Martin Scenic Design by Keri King Prop Design by Monica Shinn Sound + Light Design by Andy Russ Costume Design by Dustin Thomas Intimacy Direction by Susie Schutt Stage Manager, Allison Marchetti Assistant Stage Manager, Maxime Hendrikse Liu Asst. Stage Manager, Kerin Hagan Costume Assistant, Arianna Davey Technical Director, Jason Sall Production Intern, Z. Ferrara House Management by Christine Treglia Volunteer Management by Renee Bessette Production Photography by Erin X. Smithers Press / Media Inquiries: Niki Healy |
*Appears courtesy Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Bess Wohl is a playwright and filmmaker. Her plays have been produced on and off Broadway, regionally, and internationally and her feature film debut, BABY RUBY, starring Noémie Merlant and Kit Harington, premiered at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival and was released by Magnolia Pictures. She also wrote for the Apple TV+ series, “Extrapolations,” created by Scott Z. Burns.
Her play LIBERATION (Outer Critics Circle Winner, Drama Desk, Drama League and Lucille Lortel noms.) is currently on Broadway, after an extended run at Roundabout Theater Company, and she made her West End debut with a sold out run of BARCELONA starring Lily Collins. Other plays include GRAND HORIZONS (Tony Nominations for Best Play & Best Featured Actress, Outer Critics Circle Honor, Drama League Award nom); MAKE BELIEVE (NYTimes Critic Pick, Best of 2019, Outer Critics Circle Honor); CAMP SIEGFRIED; CONTINUITY; SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS (John Gassner Outer Critics Circle Award, top ten lists in The New York Times, The New York Post, The Guardian); AMERICAN HERO; TOUCHED; IN; CATS TALK BACK and the musical PRETTY FILTHY with composer/lyricist Michael Friedman and The Civilians (Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk nominations for Outstanding Musical).
Wohl’s plays have been produced or developed at theaters including Second Stage, Manhattan Theater Club, Ars Nova, The Williamstown Theatre Festival, Goodman Theater, The Geffen Playhouse, People’s Light and Theatre Company, The Contemporary American Theater Festival, Vineyard Arts Project, The Pittsburgh Public Theater, Northlight Theater, Ojai Playwright's Conference, the Cape Cod Theatre Project and PlayPenn. Awards and honors include the Sam Norkin special Drama Desk Award for “establishing herself as an important voice in New York theater,” multiple Outer Critics Circle honors, the Georgia Engell Comedy Playwriting Award from the Dramatists Guild, the Athena Award for her screenplay VIRGINIA, MacDowell Fellowships and inclusion on Hollywood’s Black List of Best Screenplays.
Wohl is an associate artist with The Civilians, an alumna of Ars Nova’s Play Group, and the recipient of new play commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center and Williamstown Theatre Festival. In her previous life as an actress, she appeared onstage in New York and regionally, and in numerous films and TV shows where she has given birth, solved crimes, committed crimes, been wrongly accused, and come back from the dead. She is a graduate of Harvard and the Yale School of Drama.
Her play LIBERATION (Outer Critics Circle Winner, Drama Desk, Drama League and Lucille Lortel noms.) is currently on Broadway, after an extended run at Roundabout Theater Company, and she made her West End debut with a sold out run of BARCELONA starring Lily Collins. Other plays include GRAND HORIZONS (Tony Nominations for Best Play & Best Featured Actress, Outer Critics Circle Honor, Drama League Award nom); MAKE BELIEVE (NYTimes Critic Pick, Best of 2019, Outer Critics Circle Honor); CAMP SIEGFRIED; CONTINUITY; SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS (John Gassner Outer Critics Circle Award, top ten lists in The New York Times, The New York Post, The Guardian); AMERICAN HERO; TOUCHED; IN; CATS TALK BACK and the musical PRETTY FILTHY with composer/lyricist Michael Friedman and The Civilians (Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk nominations for Outstanding Musical).
Wohl’s plays have been produced or developed at theaters including Second Stage, Manhattan Theater Club, Ars Nova, The Williamstown Theatre Festival, Goodman Theater, The Geffen Playhouse, People’s Light and Theatre Company, The Contemporary American Theater Festival, Vineyard Arts Project, The Pittsburgh Public Theater, Northlight Theater, Ojai Playwright's Conference, the Cape Cod Theatre Project and PlayPenn. Awards and honors include the Sam Norkin special Drama Desk Award for “establishing herself as an important voice in New York theater,” multiple Outer Critics Circle honors, the Georgia Engell Comedy Playwriting Award from the Dramatists Guild, the Athena Award for her screenplay VIRGINIA, MacDowell Fellowships and inclusion on Hollywood’s Black List of Best Screenplays.
Wohl is an associate artist with The Civilians, an alumna of Ars Nova’s Play Group, and the recipient of new play commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center and Williamstown Theatre Festival. In her previous life as an actress, she appeared onstage in New York and regionally, and in numerous films and TV shows where she has given birth, solved crimes, committed crimes, been wrongly accused, and come back from the dead. She is a graduate of Harvard and the Yale School of Drama.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR
2025/26 SEASON
Learn more about Season 16 at Providence's home for groundbreaking artists and adventurous audiences, including our 2025/26 Main Series productions and special events! Rhode Island premieres of Bess Wohl's Small Mouth Sounds and Girl from North Country by Conor McPherson with music by Bob Dylan, the New England premieres of Dave Malloy's Chamber Musical Octet and Lilana Padilla's How to Defend Yourself and the world premiere of From Here to Where by Umberto Crenca with music by The Gillen Street Ensemble.
ABOUT
An award-winning, not-for-profit professional theatre company, the Wilbury Theatre Group engages our community in thought-provoking conversation through new works, reimagined classics and adventurous playmaking. We are idealistic, ambitious, and stubborn in our resolve to create theatre that entertains, enlightens, and inspires.
