What We Did Before Our Moth Days tickets
About What We Did Before Our Moth Days
Get What We Did Before Our Moth Days tickets to see the triumphant reunion of playwright Wallace Shawn and director André Gregory, staging this new play about one family and its emotional journey.
Experience What We Did Before Our Moth Days in New York to see a star-studded cast — Hope Davis, Maria Dizzia, John Early, and Josh Hamilton — in this riveting new play from one of downtown theatre's legends. What We Did Before Our Moth Days off Broadway is set in an urban world of intelligent and somewhat gentle middle-class people – a father, mother, son, and the long-time mistress of the father, who tell the intimate story of their lives. What comes next? Only a singular mind like Shawn's can offer the answer — or some beautifully strange art that gets as close to an answer as an audience can get.
Know before you go
Please note: There is no elevator access to the mezzanine.
Run time
3hr. Incl. 2 intermissions.
Categories
Age
Ages 12+.
Start date
February 4th, 2026
End date
May 24th, 2026
“Intimate, profound storytelling that crawls inside your head”
A Masterclass in Intimate Storytelling
Audiences are captivated by this nearly three-hour journey into the interconnected lives of four deeply human characters. Wallace Shawn's poetic, sharp writing combines with Andre Gregory's crystal-cl...
What It Feels Like
- Deeply reflective
- Gently provocative
- Quietly riveting
You’ll Love This If…
- You appreciate literary, character-driven theater
- You enjoy intimate explorations of flawed humanity
- You value exceptional acting over flashy production
Surprisingly relevant from someone of that age. Tight and moving
I deeply appreciated how intimate each actor's performance was, each character was seemingly in a pursuit to find solace in a truth that had yet to be uncovered. It made me think about how each person thinks about themselves and how one often thinks that they are in fact a fixed character with regimented and defined likes, dislikes, behaviors, until the moment that life proves otherwise. It truly was bittersweet to watch as each character found reprieve and happiness in people other than the one's closest to them.
Excellent writing creates an interwoven and surprising story told by four people in a very matter-of-fact way.
Stars on stage
Hope Davis
Maria Dizzia
John Early
Josh Hamilton
What We Did Before Our Moth Days cast and creative team
By: Wallace Shawn
Director: André Gregory
Cast list: Hope Davis (as Elaine), Maria Dizzia (as Elle), John Early (as Tim), Josh Hamilton (as Dick)
Sets: Riccardo Hernández
Costumes: Ann Roth
Lighting: Jennifer Tipton
Sound: Bruce Odland
Other info: Original music by Bruce Odland
More information about What We Did Before Our Moth Days
Wallace Shawn, a student of morality whose plays have brought audiences frank truths about politics and sexuality, tackles the subject of love suffocating and freeing in his new play. Shawn and André Gregory have created a work that is as strange, and at times hilarious, as My Dinner with André, the film they starred in that became a cornerstone of New York art.
Shawn (who is also co-producing) said in a statement, “We don't understand ourselves, and we don't know why we do what we do. Ideally, then, dangerous weapons should be kept out of our hands at all times, but in romantic, sexual, and familial relationships we carry the weapon of our own feelings strapped to our chests whether we like it or not. This is a play about four intelligent and thoughtful people — mother, father, son, and father's mistress — living in a somewhat violent but sophisticated city.”
What to watch for
- André Gregory said in a statement, “My life in the theater has often been my life with Wally Shawn. I have been his acting teacher, his collaborator, his director, his friend. We are still going strong. Together.”
- “Wallace Shawn is the stage’s greatest moral philosopher," Pulitzer Prize winner Hilton Als wrote for The New Yorker.
- Wallace Shawn is known for playing Vizzini in The Princess Bride.
- Gregory directed Wallace’s play Grasses of a Thousand Colors at the Royal Court in London and, in a co-production with Theatre for a New Audience, at The Public Theater.
Tickets
Unfortunately, tickets for this event are no longer available.
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