We Had a World Review – a playwright torn between her warring mother and her grandmother | Section

Meand a sympathetic version of the theater’s classics, American playwright Joshua Harmon (Bad Jews) follows the changing relationship between his mother and grandmother. Following the familial breakdowns in Harmon’s life, We Had a World is a way of thinking about how work, caring and relationships can never be shaken.

Renee (Suzanne Bertish) is an even better grandmother than she was a mother. Bertish shines in the freewheeling section, alternating between generous and generous, then sour and sour. Anna Francolini has a very difficult role as Josh’s mother, Ellen: sharp and stubborn, but not very affectionate towards her son (played kindly by Ryan Kopel). When Josh learns why his mother finds his mother so difficult to love, his relationship with his grandmother is reshaped, and they are in the middle of their own battle.

The characters of these women are very captivating, revealing the qualities that each of them finds crazy in the other. Kopel works as a third-party facilitator, helping us understand the complex relationships of women and bringing them together to set them apart. The pace stutters as their conflict begins to overwhelm the script, but elsewhere hope drives the story forward as the women run towards each other, but push each other away.

Behind the trio, the ice cube melts on Sarah Beaton’s tree. It’s Josh’s remaining days of going to the museum with his curious, creative grandfather, and accepting the challenge of the weather, a story that has many legends. The idea that nothing lasts forever is subtly realized in one moment, a fleeting interaction that Harmon and director Josh Seymour capture as meticulously as a scientist drops a butterfly.

To get to know the story, We Had a World is pieced together by searching for pieces of memory and memorabilia, as if the prized possessions of the attic have been shuffled and carefully arranged accordingly. This is a silent act to understand one family and it is not easy for others to agree with the disappointments and mistakes, it is a question if it is too late to fix it.