What would you say if you had the power to rewrite and resolve the volatile relationship between the two most important women in your life? That’s the central conceit of Joshua Harmon’s most autobiographical play, We Had a World, currently being staged by Boston’s Huntington Theatre.
Josh (Will Conard) receives a final request from his dying grandmother, Nana (Amy Resnick): write a play about the family’s animosity, but to “make it as bitter and vitriolic as possible.” Although she envisions a sequel to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by way of Medea, Harmon crafts a sensitive memory play centered on his mom, Ellen’s (Eva Kaminsky), tortured relationship with her alcoholic parent.
Nana knew best—or did she?
Breaking the fourth wall from the onset, Josh travels back to being five years old to detail a special bond with his Nana, the woman he credits with inspiring him to be a playwright. She takes him to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, as well as R-rated movies and a scandalous Robert Mapplethorpe photography exhibit, all before he’s a tween. He hilariously explains how Nana, a Brooklyn native with Jewish Hungarian roots, spoke in a fake sophisticated accent (Resnick does a pretty good Katherine Hepburn impression), while his lawyer mom sounded like Marisa Tomei until she transformed into someone more polished.
Harmon provides plenty of biting humor for both women to chew on in this nonlinear dark comedy about love and resentment, staged on Courtney O’Neill’s gorgeous scenic design. Yet, it’s ultimately Kaminsky—embodying the most thankless role—who shines. She proudly calls herself a bitch and portrays it with the tenacity this tough mother deserves.
“What’s the goal here?” Josh’s mother asks. “To share the greatest hits of the worst moments of my life?” As we witness this push-pull, it’s easy to fall in love with Nana while feeling sympathy for Josh’s mother, as he cleverly revises the narrative to fit his needs and craft a tribute to them both.
Is ‘We Had a World’ worth seeing?
4 out of 5 stars
Joshua Harmon’s most personal play is also one of his best—a sharp, tender tug-of-war between love, resentment, and the stories we tell to survive both.
- Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont Street, Boston
- Notable performers: Will Conard, Amy Resnick, Eva Kaminsky
- Running time: 100 minutes with no intermission
- Performances through March 15, 2026
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