Member-only story
We Had a World…of Navel Gazing
We Had a World
Written by Joshua Harmon
Directed. By Keira Fromm
The Huntington Calderwood
February 12-March 15, 2026
We Had a World is an odd title for a play so myopic in scope. Joshua Harmon, a prolific and talented playwright (Prayer for the French Republic) traces his long, loving relationship with his grandmother in this three-person tragi-comic triangle between Joshua, his grandmother Renee, and his mother Ellen.
Compelling drama emerges from portraying the specific in a way that conveys the universal. We Had a World is very specific, down to the detail of recreating transcripts of taped conversation. Yet the specificity fails to evoke the universal.
One would think that the story of a chubby boy in a dysfunctional alcoholic family, who has a close relationship to his grandmother, and who turns out to be gay, would resonate with me, since it so closely mirrors my own life. But it did not. The biggest challenge was Renee, the alcoholic grandmother. She’s narcissistic and erratic, yet unlike any alcoholic I’ve ever met, her cruelty seems disconnected from the level of alcohol in her blood. Perhaps that’s because young Joshua’s devotion precludes seeing her clearly. Though I think it’s also related to the way actor Amy Resnick plays…
