For some of us, Wallace Shawn is fondly remembered for his role on Gossip Girl, where he played the notorious Blair Waldorf’s stepfather and trademarked the line “not enough!” Funny and charming, his run on the show was, indeed, not enough. For anyone outside of Gen Z, Shawn’s defining work remains My Dinner With André, the 1981 film directed by my great-uncle Louis Malle and written by Shawn and André Gregory. Lifelong collaborators, Shawn and Gregory have reunited for What We Did Before Our Moth Days, a new play written by the former and directed by the latter. The gripping story of a family (mistress included), it’s also a touching meditation on love, sorrow, joy, and all of life’s ups and downs. With a three-hour run time, two intermissions, and a script written almost entirely in the form of monologues, it’s a daunting challenge for our dwindling attention spans. And yet, time is forgotten thanks to the cast’s remarkable performances. The four actors (Hope Davis, John Early, Maria Dizzia, and Josh Hamilton) remain seated in their chairs, using only their words to pull us into their complex stories. Their characters grow after each scene, urging viewers to reconsider what they thought they knew just moments before. Simple yet powerful, this is a beautiful depiction of what it means to be human. —Jeanne Malle