The play chronicles a year in the life of the "moonchildren" referred to in the title: eight college students living communally together in an off-campus attic in the mid-1960s.
[1][2] The work was first performed in 1970 with the title Cancer in London at the Royal Court Theater under the direction of Peter Gill.
Weller changed the name to Moonchildren shortly thereafter for the work's American premiere at the Arena Stage (Washington, DC) in November 1971, which was directed by Alan Schneider.
[3] The cast included Kevin Conway as Mike, Maureen Anderman as Ruth, Edward Herrmann as Cootie, Christopher Guest as Norman, Stephen Collins as Dick, Jill Eikenberry as Kathy, James Woods as Bob Rettie, Cara Duff-MacCormick as Shelly, Donegan Smith as Ralph, Robert Prosky as Mr. Willis, Ron McLarty as Lucky, Louis Zorich as Bream, Peter Alzado as Effing, Salem Ludwig as Uncle Murry, George Curley as Cootie's Father, and Michael Tucker as Milkman.
[2] According to a review in The New York Times, Weller wrote this play about the generation that came of age during the Vietnam War "with a discerning eye and a journalist's detachment".