Julia Roberts and Sarah Paulson are heading to Broadway as Joan and Judy, a lesbian couple on a silent retreat that doesn’t go the way either of them hoped. The pair star in Bess Wohl’s Small Mouth Sounds, opening at New York’s Ethel Barrymore Theatre in March 2027.
Two of the biggest names in Hollywood, playing a middle-aged queer couple, in a play where hardly anyone is allowed to speak. Here’s everything you need to know.
What is Small Mouth Sounds?
Six strangers arrive at a spiritual retreat in the woods of upstate New York, all hoping to leave their problems at the door. They’ve signed up for a vow of silence, so almost the entire play unfolds without dialogue, guided by a teacher the audience hears but never sees. Naturally, inner peace proves hard to come by.
Wohl wrote it after her own stay at a retreat centre, and it premiered Off-Broadway in 2015. This is its first Broadway run, and it comes with serious momentum: Wohl won both the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony for Best Play this year for Liberation. Directing is Joe Mantello, fresh from a 2026 Tony win for Death of a Salesman.
Who are Joan and Judy?
Roberts plays Joan, a therapist and sex educator carrying anger that goes back to childhood. Paulson plays Judy, Joan’s devoted partner, an editor who likes to be in control. They are the only two characters who arrive together, so their relationship plays out in glances, gestures and everything left unsaid.
That’s what makes this one worth watching. Joan and Judy aren’t a meet-cute or a tragic backstory – they’re an established couple going through something hard, which is still rare to see written for women this famous on a stage this big.
It’s also Roberts’ first time on Broadway in 21 years, since Three Days of Rain in 2006. Paulson won a Tony in 2024 for Appropriate.
Who else is in it?
Paul Rudd plays Ned, reuniting with Roberts two decades after Three Days of Rain. Greta Lee (Past Lives) plays Alicia, a former child actor, Isaac Powell plays yoga instructor Rodney, and Martin Freeman makes his Broadway debut as Jan, a Finnish pastor.
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Can I get tickets from the UK?
Previews start on 18 February 2027, with opening night on 18 March 2027. The run is expected to last around 90 minutes, with mature themes including nudity.
General sale hasn’t been announced yet. The only way in right now is a presale linked to Mantello’s other autumn play, Downstate: buy tickets to that and you get a code for select Small Mouth Sounds seats at $250 each. For most of us, the sensible move is to sign up for updates at SmallMouthSoundsBroadway.com and start pricing up a spring trip to New York.
The details:
Show: Small Mouth Sounds by Bess Wohl
Previews: 18 February 2027
Opening night: 18 March 2027
Venue: Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 243 W 47th St, New York
Tickets: smallmouthsoundsbroadway.com
Nonchalant x
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This article was written by one of our creative team writers here at Nonchalant Magazine.
