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 FOR RELEASE ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2025

THE LEGENDARY COLLABORATION BETWEEN
WALLACE SHAWN AND ANDRÉ GREGORY
CONTINUES WITH

 “WHAT WE DID BEFORE OUR MOTH DAYS”
A NEW PLAY BY
WALLACE SHAWN
TO PREMIERE OFF-BROADWAY
IN MARCH 

DIRECTED BY
ANDRÉ GREGORY

STARRING
HOPE DAVIS
MARIA DIZZIA
JOHN EARLY
JOSH HAMILTON

TODAYTIX PRESALE BEGINS TODAY, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
GENERAL ON SALE BEGINS TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10

New York, NY (September 9, 2025) – Producers Scott Rudin and Barry Diller announced today that Wallace Shawn will premiere his new play, What We Did Before Our Moth Days, directed by André Gregory, for a limited 12-week off-Broadway run at the Greenwich House Theater (27 Barrow St). The production will star Hope Davis, Maria Dizzia, John Early, and Josh Hamilton. Performances of What We Did Before Our Moth Days will begin on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, ahead of a Thursday, March 5, 2026 opening night.

Tickets for What We Did Before Our Moth Days are available now in an exclusive presale via the TodayTix app and at www.TodayTix.com. General on sale will begin tomorrow, Wednesday, September 10 at 9AM ET at www.MothDays.com.

What We Did Before Our Moth Days celebrates the legendary, lifelong collaboration between Wallace Shawn and André Gregory that began with Mr. Shawn’s play Our Late Night, directed by Mr. Gregory at The Public Theatre in 1975 – a production that buoyed the experimental theater movement of the era.  Among their renowned film collaborations are 1981’s My Dinner with Andre (co-written by and starring the two men); and Vanya on 42^nd Street (1994), a filmed adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya which they workshopped for years.  In 2000, Mr. Gregory directed the New York production of Mr. Shawn’s The Designated Mourner, produced by Mr. Rudin.  It was named one of the greatest American plays of the past 25 years in 2018 by The New York Times.

What We Did Before Our Moth Days is set in an urban world of intelligent and somewhat gentle middle-class people – a father, mother, son, and the long-time mistress of the father, who tell the intimate story of their lives. Mr. Shawn, a student of morality whose plays have brought us frank truths about politics and sexuality, takes on the subject of love – suffocating and freeing – and the kaleidoscopic journeys we make through remorse, sorrow, resentment, and joy. Mr. Shawn and Mr. Gregory have created a work that is as strange, and at times hilarious, as My Dinner with André.

About the play, Wallace Shawn (who is also co-producing) said, “We don’t understand ourselves, and we don’t know why we do what we do. Ideally, then, dangerous weapons should be kept out of our hands at all times, but in romantic, sexual, and familial relationships we carry the weapon of our own feelings strapped to our chests whether we like it or not. This is a play about four intelligent and thoughtful people – mother, father, son, and father’s mistress – living in a somewhat violent but sophisticated city.”

And about their association, André Gregory added, “My life in the theater has often been my life with Wally Shawn. I have been his acting teacher, his collaborator, his director, his friend. We have done plays together and we have done films together. We have been partners for over half a century. And with his new play, What We Did Before Our Moth Days, we are continuing the tradition. We are still going strong. Together.”

The design team for What We Did Before Our Moth Days includes scenic design by Riccardo Hernández, costume design by Ann Roth, lighting design by Jennifer Tipton, with sound design and original music by Bruce Odland.

To download headshots, please click here.

For more information, please visit www.MothDays.com.

“Wallace Shawn is the stage’s greatest moral philosopher.”
Hilton Als, The New Yorker

“Wallace Shawn’s authorial voice is singular and unmistakable.”
Ben Brantley, The New York Times

“André Gregory is a brilliantly accomplished master storyteller and chronicler.”
Phillip Lopate, The New York Times

“André Gregory’s body of work stands out as one of the most unique, and precisely assembled, in the recent history of theater and film.”
Nathan Taylor Pemberton, Bookforum

“A triumphant duo who stand as timely avatars of our contemporary crises.”
Mariella Rudi, The New York Times

“Gregory and Shawn have managed to break almost every rule of the theater.
Whenever these two dreamy theatricals emerge from the cocoon of their process it’s good news for the American theater.”
John Lahr, The New Yorker

BIOGRAPHIES

WALLACE SHAWN (Playwright) started writing plays in 1967. His play Our Late Night, directed by André Gregory, was done at the Public Theater in New York in 1975 by André’s group, The Manhattan Project.

His plays have been performed at The Public Theater and Scott Elliott’s The New Group in New York and in London at the National Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre. They include Maire and Bruce, Aunt Dan and Lemon, The Fever, The Designated Mourner, Grasses of a Thousand Colors, and Evening at the Talk House. The plays are published in the United States by TCG Books and Grove Press and in the UK by Faber and Nick Hern Books. The current version of The Fever and What We Did Before Our Moth Days will be published in the United States and the UK by Faber.

His work as a film actor includes appearances in Manhattan, Clueless, Radio Days, Toy Story franchise, The Moderns and Rifkin’s Festival. Wallace is also known as Dr. Sturgis in the television show “Young Sheldon.”

Wallace’s three films with André Gregory, available in a boxed set from Criterion, are My Dinner with André and Vanya on 42nd Street, both directed by Louis Malle, and A Master Builder, directed by Jonathan Demme. He and André co-wrote My Dinner with André in Vanya. Wallace played Vanya in the production directed by André, and in A Master Builder he played Solness in the production directed by André.

André directed Wallace’s play Grasses of a Thousand Colors at the Royal Court in London and, in a co-production with Theatre for a New Audience, at The Public Theater. André’s production of The Designated Mourner was first produced by Celeste Bartos and Scott Rudin in a deserted men’s club near Wall Street. It has also been done at The Public Theater and Redcat in Los Angeles.

His latest book is a long essay, Night Thoughts. His earlier essays are collected in Essays. Both books are published by Haymarket Books. In the U.K., his essays are collected in the book Sleeping Among Sheep Under a Starry Sky.

Allen Shawn’s opera The Music Teacher, with a libretto by Wallace Shawn, is available from Bridge Records.

ANDRÉ GREGORY (Director) has been one of the most important forces in the American theatre for over forty years. Gregory was one of the original creators of the regional theater movement, the off-Broadway movement in New York, and (with his partner Wallace Shawn), the American independent film movement.

His production of The Blacks ran for years in New York and featured now legendary performers James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson, Lou Gossett and Maya Angelou. His production of Alice in Wonderland played for seven years, as well as touring the U.S., Europe, and the Mideast, and was made into a book in collaboration with photographer Richard Avedon.

His forty-year collaboration with Wallace Shawn led to a collaboration with Louis Malle, with whom they made two now legendary films, My Dinner with André and Vanya on 42^nd Street. In 2013, Shawn and Gregory collaborated with Jonathan Demme to create the film, A Master Builder.

As an actor, Gregory has performed in a dozen films, including The Last Temptation of Christ by Martin Scorsese, Mosquito Coast by Peter Weir, Celebrity by Woody Allen and Demolition Man. In 2017, Gregory starred in the HBO series “The Young Pope” directed by Paolo Sorrentino.

HOPE DAVIS (Elaine) can currently be seen in the Apple TV limited series “Before,” alongside Billy Crystal, and in Wes Anderson’s newest feature The Phoenician Scheme. She can next be seen in several feature films including Jay Duplass’ See You When I See You, Amazon MGM’s You Deserve Each Other, Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind, and the upcoming feature film Reykjavik where she plays ‘Nancy Reagan.’ Davis most recently starred in the Showtime series “Your Honor” and in the second season of HBO’s
“Perry Mason.” She earned a 2022 Emmy Nomination for her work in Season 3 of “Succession” on HBO. Other television credits include the HBO Max series “Love Life,” ABC’s “For the People,” ABC’s “American Crime,” FOX’s “Wayward Pines,” NBC’s “Allegiance” and Aaron Sorkin’s HBO show “The Newsroom.” Davis received an Emmy nomination for her work on HBO’s “In Treatment” and was also honored with both Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her portrayal of Hillary Clinton in the HBO film The Special Relationship.

Other select film credits include Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, The Secret Lives of Dentists (Film Critics Circle Award), American Splendor (Golden Globe nomination), Rebel in the Rye, Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, and Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Davis also received a Tony nomination for her work in God of Carnage on Broadway. Her other theater credits include Red Barn at the National’s Lyttelton in the West End, Camino Real at the famed Williamstown Theatre Festival; Pterodactyls; The Food Chain; The Iceman Cometh; Ivanov; and David Mamet’s Speed the Plow.

MARIA DIZZIA (Elle) has established herself as one of New York’s most versatile actresses with a career spanning theatre, television, and film. Maria was nominated for a 2010 Tony Award for her performance in In the Next Room and a Drama Desk Award for Belleville.

Maria was last seen onstage in the off-Broadway play Pre-Existing Condition, which she also directed. She appeared in the Broadway revival of Macbeth, and also starred in the national tour of Heidi Schreck’s acclaimed play What the Constitution Means to Me. Other theatre credits include: If I Forget, The Layover, Belleville, Uncle Vanya, In the Next Room (2010 Tony Award nomination); Eurydice; and many more. She made her directorial debut with the Amios Theater Company production of The Loneliest Number (2018 NY Innovative Theater nomination).

In 2019 she starred in the Academy Award-winning short The Neighbors’ Window directed by Marshall Curry, for which she also earned the Best Actress Award at the Short Shorts Festival. Maria portrayed ‘Polly’ on three seasons of “Orange is the New Black” and had recurring roles on “The Staircase,” “The First Lady,” “The Undoing,” “13 Reasons Why,” “Horace” and “Pete,” “Louie,” “Emergence,” “Red Oaks” and “Royal Pains.” Other select television and film credits include: “Agatha: Coven of Chaos,” The Good Nurse, The Graduates, “Life & Beth,” “Modern Love,” The Outside Story, “The Deuce,” “The Newsroom,” “Prodigal Son,” “Bull,” While We’re Young, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Margin Call, “The Good Wife,” “Master of None,” “Elementary,” A NY Thing, “Fringe,” “Law & Order,” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”

Maria can be seen on the Paramount series “School Spirits” and also in the Apple TV+ series “Before.” Her film, Plainclothes, premiered at Sundance and received the 2025 Sundance Ensemble Award; My Old Ass premiered at Tribeca Film Festival; and We Strangers premiered at SXSW. Her upcoming films include Anima and M. Night Shyamalan’s Remain.

JOHN EARLY (Tim) is an actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer. John’s feature directorial debut, Maddie’s Secret, which he wrote and also stars in, premiered as the opening night film in the Discovery section of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival to rapturous reviews. His HBO stand-up special, Now More Than Ever, was released in June 2023 and was nominated for a Critic’s Choice Award and Emmy Award. John was also nominated for an Emmy award for his A24 sketch special Would It Kill You To Laugh? which he created and stars in with his frequent collaborator Kate Berlant. John stars in and produced the feature film Stress Positions, written and directed by Theda Hammel, for Neon. The film premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition category at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and released theatrically in the Spring of 2024. Previously John starred in five seasons of the critically acclaimed HBO Max Original series “Search Party” and co-starred in the comedy series “The Afterparty” with Tiffany Haddish. He wrote, starred in, and executive produced his own episode of “The Characters” and the critically acclaimed web series “555,” also with Berlant, directed by Andrew DeYoung.

In the New York theater world, he produced a revival of Wallace Shawn’s Marie and Bruce and directed Jacqueline Novak’s hit off-Broadway show Get on Your Knees. Early’s film feature credits include Neighbors 2, Beatriz at Dinner, The Disaster Artist, and Other People. He can also be seen in Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later, “Broad City,” “High Maintenance,” “30 Rock,” “I Think You Should Leave,” “At Home with Amy Sedaris,” “Portlandia,” and HBO’s “Los Espookys.” Up next, John appears in the upcoming A24 feature Eternity, opposite Elizabeth Olsen, Miles Teller, Callum Turner and Da’Vine Joy Randolph.

JOSH HAMILTON (Dick) will next be seen opposite George Clooney and Adam Sandler in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, and in Mas Bouzidi’s debut Concessions. He recently starred in Tina Satter’s acclaimed Reality opposite Sydney Sweeney (HBO Films) and in Cory Finley’s Landscape with Invisible Hand (MGM). Josh earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for his performance in Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade, and can also be seen in Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, Ilana Glazer’s False Positive, and Amazon’s The Map of Tiny Perfect Things. On television, he stars in Apple’s “The Last Thing He Told Me,” and was a series regular on AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”

RICCARDO HERNÁNDEZ (Scenic Design). Recent: Jagged Little Pill; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Indecent; The Thanksgiving Play; The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess; Lempicka. Théâtre de l’Odéon, Festival Automne, La Colline-Theatre National Paris, Cour D’Honneur, Palais des Papes – Avignon Festival, Teatro Real Madrid, Moscow Art Theater, Theater an der Wien, Oslo National Theater, Young Vic, Estates Theater Prague. Obie for Sustained Excellence of Scenic Design, Henry Hewes Design Award, Princess Grace Statue Award. Co-Chair and Associate Professor at Yale School of Drama.

ANN ROTH (Costume Design) is a Tony and Academy Award-winning costume designer with over 200 Broadway and feature film design credits. Select design credits include the original Broadway productions of The Odd Couple, Purlie Victorious, Seesaw, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, They’re Playing Our Song, Hurlyburly, Biloxi Blues, Singin’ in the Rain, The House of Blue Leaves, The Book of Mormon, The Nance (Tony Award), and To Kill a Mockingbird. Film credits include Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Academy Award), The English Patient (Academy Award), The Post, Julie & Julia, The Reader, Doubt, Mamma Mia!, The Village, The Stepford Wives, Cold Mountain, The Hours, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Birdcage, The Mambo Kings, Klute, Working Girl, Silkwood, Places in the Heart, 9 to 5, Hair, The Owl and the Pussycat, and Midnight Cowboy. Television credits include “Angels in America” and “Mildred Pierce.” Roth was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2011.

JENNIFER TIPTON (Lighting Design) is well-known for her lighting for theater, opera, and dance. Her recent work in theater includes the North American tour of To Kill a Mockingbird, Samuel Beckett’s First Love, and all of Richard Nelson’s Rhinebeck plays.  Her recent work in opera includes Ricky Ian Gordon’s Intimate Apparel with libretto by Lynn Nottage, based on her play by the same name, at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center. Her recent work in dance includes Helen Pickett’s Crime and Punishment for American Ballet Theater. Among many awards she has received the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize in 2001, the Jerome Robbins Prize in 2003, and in 2008 she was awarded the USA “Gracie” Fellowship and a MacArthur Fellowship. She has lit Paul Taylor dances since her beginning in light.

BRUCE ODLAND (Sound Design and Original Music). Born in 1952 in Milwaukee, Odland is a visionary composer and sound artist celebrated for his innovative sound installations. Working primarily with Sam Auinger as O+A, they have created over 50 installations worldwide that transform urban and natural sounds into harmonious music. Notable works include Harmonic Bridge at MASS MoCA and Harmonic Gate in Zurich. Odland founded The TANK Center for Sonic Arts in Colorado, a unique acoustic space for sonic exploration. His contributions span theater, film, and interactive media, earning him accolades like the Golden Muse and Helen Hayes Awards. He has enjoyed working with Wally Shawn and André Gregory on all of their projects since 2000. He is based in Westchester County, New York, where he continues to influence how we perceive sound in our environments.

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