Off-B'way Review: What We Did Before Our Moth Days

Hope Davis, Josh Hamilton, Maria Dizzia,
and John Early in What We Did
Before Our Moth Days.
Credit: Julieta Cervantes

Wallace Shawn continues to explore themes of morality and familial influence with his latest work What We Did Before Our Moth Days, a series of interrelated monologues running three hours, yet mesmerizing us with its staggering details and insight into human behavior. The intense performances of a sharp quartet of actors and the sensitive, subtle direction of Shawn’s longtime collaborator Andre Gregory perfectly complement the playwright’s unsparing portrait of interpersonal dynamics.

As in his Aunt Dan and Lemon, The Fever, The Designated Mourner, and Evening at the Talk House, Shawn displays how morally careless actions can lead to devastating consequences a generation later. Aunt Dan’s unquestioning fascistic support of Henry Kissinger causes her niece Lemon’s bigoted, Nazi-like attitudes and emotionally stunted lifestyle. Fever and Mourner are cautionary tales against government oppression and overreach. In Evening at the Talk House casual acceptance of repugnant political practices inspires societal breakdown and the spread of torture. Moth Days focuses on personal conduct rather than political, but the choices the characters make still cause devastating consequences.