We Had a World
Closing: May 11, 2025We Had a World - 2025 Off-Broadway History , Info & More
City Center Stage 2
131 West 55th St. (between 6th and 7th Avenues) New York, NY 10019
A dying woman calls her grandson and asks him to write a play about their family. “But I want you to promise me something,” she says. “Make it as bitter and vitriolic as possible." In this searing, funny and deeply personal play, the author of last season's Prayer for the French Republic recreates thirty years of family fights, monstrous behavior, enormous cruelty, and enduring love.
We Had a World - 2025 - Off-Broadway Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR We Had a World
‘We Had a World’ Review: Through the Fourth Wall and Into the Past
9 / 10
Harmon’s script doesn’t feel as didactic or self-consciously stagy as many contemporary memory plays can be; it strikes an impressive balance of negotiating a story with many adverse emotional perspectives and moving parts while also maintaining a sense of honesty. I don’t just mean honesty in the sense of facts — though the verifiable biographical facts in Harmon’s story, and a bit of recorded material at the end, lend a gravitas to the characters and occurrences. I mean honesty in the sense of emotional transparency, the very real mix of love and resentment and insecurities and doubts that define all relationships, especially those within a family.
‘We Had a World’ review — a family drama with heartache and humor
8 / 10
Tonally, the play dances between comedy and tragedy, with the family matriarch’s battle with the bottle leading the way. Director Trip Cullman navigates this balance with scenes of tearful outbursts working alongside humorous bits. In some scenes, though, the dance feels out of step. And for audience members with alcoholics in the family tree, the play’s comedic treatment may come across as off-putting.
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We Had a World History
Other Productions of We Had a World
| 2025 | Off-Broadway |
MTC Off-Broadway Premiere Off-Broadway |
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