{"url":"https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days-review-wallace-shawns-misbegotten-monologues-6f8defac","title":"Shawn's Misbegotten Monologues Fall Flat","domain":"wsj.com","imageUrl":"https://images.pexels.com/photos/33596987/pexels-photo-33596987.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&h=650&w=940","pexelsSearchTerm":"OffBroadway theater stage","category":"Culture","language":"en","slug":"03f5b164","id":"03f5b164-16dc-4e71-9fb4-e8331d6620b1","description":"Charles Isherwood reviews Wallace Shawn's new Off-Broadway play as flawed monologues lacking depth.[[1]](https://www.broadwayworld.com/reviews/what-we-did-","summary":"## TL;DR\n- Charles Isherwood reviews Wallace Shawn's new Off-Broadway play as flawed monologues lacking depth.[[1]](https://www.broadwayworld.com/reviews/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days)[[2]](https://www.show-score.com/off-broadway-shows/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days)\n- Four actors deliver interlinked speeches on a father's long affair, family ennui, and love in a static format.[[3]](https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days-review-wallace-shawns-misbegotten-monologues-6f8defac)\n- The work disappoints by offering familiar domestic drama without Shawn's usual political or philosophical bite.[[1]](https://www.broadwayworld.com/reviews/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days)\n\n## The story at a glance\nCharles Isherwood critiques Wallace Shawn's *What We Did Before Our Moth Days*, directed by André Gregory at Greenwich House Theater, as a set of misbegotten monologues told by a father, mother, son, and father's mistress. The play recounts their lives amid love, boredom, and adultery but lacks novelty or insight. This review follows the Off-Broadway opening on March 5, 2026.[[4]](https://playbill.com/article/how-are-reviews-for-wallace-shawns-what-we-did-before-our-moth-days-off-broadway)\n\n## Key points\n- Four-person cast—**Hope Davis** (mistress Elaine), **Josh Hamilton** (father Dick), **Maria Dizzia** (mother Elle), **John Early** (son Tim)—sits onstage delivering long, connected monologues.[[5]](https://mothdays.com/)\n- Story centers on a middle-class family's secrets, including the father's longtime affair, in an urban setting of remorse and joy.[[5]](https://mothdays.com/)\n- Isherwood finds little mysterious beyond the title, calling the content unsurprising and of scant interest.[[3]](https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days-review-wallace-shawns-misbegotten-monologues-6f8defac)\n- Unlike Shawn's prior works like *The Fever* or *The Designated Mourner*, it has minimal sociological, political, or philosophical reach.[[1]](https://www.broadwayworld.com/reviews/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days)\n- Static seated format grows tedious as unarresting characters and relationships unfold without freshness.[[2]](https://www.show-score.com/off-broadway-shows/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days)\n- One grim son monologue ponders humanity's flawed evolution as an \"appalling, dreadful design.\"[[1]](https://www.broadwayworld.com/reviews/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days)\n\n## Details and context\nThe play marks a reunion for Shawn and 91-year-old Gregory, collaborators on landmarks like *Vanya on 42nd Street* and *Grasses of a Thousand Colors* over five decades.[[6]](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/theater/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days-review.html) It runs in repertory with Shawn performing his solo *The Fever* on dark nights, highlighting the contrast in ambition.[[1]](https://www.broadwayworld.com/reviews/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days)\n\nIsherwood's pan stands out amid mixed-to-positive notices elsewhere—like a *New York Times* critic's pick praising its empathy—but sticks to the WSJ view of mundane domesticity.[[6]](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/theater/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days-review.html)\n\n## Key quotes\n*\"Probably best not to clarify the enigmatic title... particularly because there is surprisingly little else in it that is mysterious, or, for that matter, of striking interest.\"* — Charles Isherwood, WSJ[[3]](https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days-review-wallace-shawns-misbegotten-monologues-6f8defac)\n\n*\"The static format becomes an increasing liability as the minutes tick by, because the characters, their reflections and their relationships are not particularly novel or arresting.\"* — Charles Isherwood, WSJ[[2]](https://www.show-score.com/off-broadway-shows/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days)\n\n## Why it matters\nThis review underscores risks in late-career theater from established duos like Shawn and Gregory, where familiarity breeds tepid work over bold innovation. Theatergoers weighing a ticket face a three-hour sit for middling drama, while producers note how one harsh WSJ take can temper buzz. Watch if Shawn's *The Fever* repertory draws crowds or if casting changes, like recent understudy swaps, sustain the run through May.[[7]](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0748784/news)","hashtags":["#theater","#offbroadway","#wallaceshawn","#review","#criticism"],"sources":[{"url":"https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days-review-wallace-shawns-misbegotten-monologues-6f8defac","title":"Original article"},{"url":"https://www.broadwayworld.com/reviews/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days","title":""},{"url":"https://www.show-score.com/off-broadway-shows/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days","title":""},{"url":"https://playbill.com/article/how-are-reviews-for-wallace-shawns-what-we-did-before-our-moth-days-off-broadway","title":""},{"url":"https://mothdays.com/","title":""},{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/theater/what-we-did-before-our-moth-days-review.html","title":""},{"url":"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0748784/news","title":""}],"viewCount":2,"publishedAt":"2026-04-15T22:17:21.155Z","createdAt":"2026-04-15T22:17:21.155Z","articlePublishedAt":null}