We Had a World

Joshua shares a singular bond with his luminous grandmother, the woman who introduced him to Medea, Mapplethorpe, and Broadway, and set him on the path to becoming a playwright. In this deeply funny and moving love letter to complicated families, Joshua Harmon (Bad Jews, Prayer for the French Republic) unravels thirty years of family history, with a little Rashomon-style assistance from his mother. The story follows Joshua, a gay, Jewish playwright and narrator who moves fluidly between the child and adult versions of himself, both inside and outside of memory. He is curious, sensitive, and deeply attuned to the emotional undercurrents of his family as he tries to make sense of the past. His mother Ellen is smart, sharp, and direct, practical and overextended, often the most grounded person in the room, with a complicated relationship with her own mother and works hard to keep that from shaping her son. This is a regional premiere production by GableStage in Miami, FL, directed by Stuart Meltzer with Bari Newport as Artistic Director.