A good chunk of the audience at The Shed didn’t seem to recognize Tom Hanks when he first walked out on stage in “ This World of Tomorrow ,” even though he’s the man they had come to see and hear. Hanks wrote this play himself, along with collaborator James Glossman; it’s an adaptation of several of Hanks’ pre-existing short stories.

Who knew he had the time?

Movie stars who were famous while young often appear older in person. On this occasion, Hanks’ famously large and friendly forehead seemed to have shrunk or maybe it was just covered up by hair and make-up. The idea, clearly, was to make Hanks seem like a regular, retro Joe, with manners more at home in 1939 than whatever dystopian, A.I.-run fate awaits us all later this century.

That is pretty much the plot of “This World of

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