What We Did Before Our Moth Days
Closing: May 24, 2026What We Did Before Our Moth Days - 2026 Off-Broadway History , Info & More
Greenwich House Theatre
27 Barrow St. New York, NY 10014
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 tell the intimate story of their lives. Wallace Shawn, a student of morality whose plays have brought us frank truths about politics and sexuality, here takes on the subject of love – suffocating and freeing – and the kaleidoscopic journeys we make through remorse, sorrow, resentment, and joy. Mr. Shawn and Mr. Gregory have created a work that is as strange, and at times hilarious, as My Dinner with André.
What We Did Before Our Moth Days - 2026 - Off-Broadway Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR What We Did Before Our Moth Days
‘What We Did Before Our Moth Days’ Review: Wallace Shawn’s Misbegotten Monologues
3 / 10
Unlike Mr. Shawn’s previous plays such as “Aunt Dan and Lemon,” “The Designated Mourner” or “The Fever” (which Mr. Shawn is performing on Sunday and Monday nights when “Moth Days” is not staged), “Moth Days” has scant sociological, political or philosophical dimensions. The closest approach it makes to evoking more universal truths probably comes in a grim monologue from Tim reflecting on fate, and humanity’s evolution: “The creature that we are wasn’t made by anyone, and if you were to look at it closely as if it were something designed . . . you’d have to say, ‘Oh no, this is terrible, this is an appalling, dreadful design,’ because the creature that we are is so full of characteristics that only a totally demented designer, or a demonically evil designer, would have dreamed of including in it.”
Wallace Shawn’s ‘What We Did Before Our Moth Days’ Is Purgatory Done Right
9 / 10
*CRITIC'S PICK* That’s not just a morbid nature speaking. Shawn’s play, a set of interlinked monologues, is written for and from the bardo. Gregory’s production is monkishly simple: Four actors sit in chairs, facing a dimly lit audience, occasionally sipping from their mugs, telling us the stories of their lives and deaths. Gregory keeps them relaxed, but, as three hours sail by, they tell us so much — is this what you think about, when, say, your friends bury you in a ritual grave on Halloween night?
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by Chloe Rabinowitz - April 2, 2026
With three hours’ notice, Wallace Shawn and Deborah Eisenberg stepped into Mr. Shawn’s What We Did Before Our Moth Days at the Greenwich House Theater. See a photo from curtain call!
by A.A. Cristi - April 1, 2026
Wallace Shawn and Deborah Eisenberg stepped in with three hours' notice for Hope Davis and Maria Dizzia, who are out due to illness, in WHAT WE DID BEFORE OUR MOTH DAYS at Greenwich House Theater on April 1 and April 2.
by Chloe Rabinowitz - March 13, 2026
Wallace Shawn’s What We Did Before Our Moth Days will be extended for a final two weeks. The production stars Hope Davis, Maria Dizzia, John Early, and Josh Hamilton.
by A.A. Cristi - March 5, 2026
The critics are weighing in on Wallace Shawn’s new play, What We Did Before Our Moth Days, directed by André Gregor, running now at the Greenwich House Theater (27 Barrow St). The production stars Hope Davis, Maria Dizzia, John Early, and Josh Hamilton. Read the reviews.
by Stephi Wild - February 17, 2026
Wallace Shawn’s new play, What We Did Before Our Moth Days, directed by André Gregory, will be extended for an additional two weeks through Sunday, May 10, at the Greenwich House Theater.
by Stephi Wild - September 9, 2025
Wallace Shawn will premiere his new play, What We Did Before Our Moth Days, directed by André Gregory, for a limited 12-week off-Broadway run at the Greenwich House Theater (27 Barrow St).
What We Did Before Our Moth Days History
Other Productions of What We Did Before Our Moth Days
| 2026 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
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