Smile records Sarah Ruhl's coming to terms with her new face and the conundrums it presents — after the playwright wondered for ten years whether the story deserved to live on the page.

In 2010, doctors diagnosed Sarah Ruhl with Bell’s palsy — a mysterious, unexplained form of facial paralysis caused by nerve damage. Nearly a decade later, Ruhl still couldn’t really smile.

Playwright Sarah Ruhl hit a high point in her career when her play opened on Broadway in 2009. The MacArthur “Genius” fellow (2006) had a full and satisfying personal life with a loving husband and ...

Sarah Ruhl, after a long struggle living with Bell’s palsy, knows the feeling of being masked among the unmasked. By Sarah Ruhl In the theater, we smile. We smile because the show must go on. We ...

In an excerpt from her new memoir, Smile, the playwright Sarah Ruhl reflect on a mysterious case of Bell's palsy that afflicted her in the days after the birth of her twins.

Bell's palsy can be a sudden and surprising condition, rapidly causing facial weakness and muscle twitching. But understanding the causes, symptoms, and treatment options is key to diagnosing and ...