a new play by Andrew Gall, with material adapted from Henry David Thoreau’s Walden

Directed by Andrew Gall / Performed by Doug Blackburn

Lester has played the game well all his life. At 68 years old he’s amassed the rewards of privilege and power that befit his station as a high powered lobbyist, political consultant, and corporate lawyer. In an unexpected turn of the wheel of fortune and with insinuations from people at the top of the food chain of a quick trial, no jail time, and a pardon, Lester agrees to take the fall for his team and keep his mouth shut about some dubious activities. When Lester ends up behind bars with a mop and bucket cleaning the prison bathrooms at the beginning of a very punitive sentence that will keep him locked up for the rest of his life, he starts demanding some action from his powerful friends. Before he can say “MAGA” and by order of the DOJ he’s reassigned to be a student in the prison education program. As his life outside falls apart and he discovers how fleeting loyalty and promises are, he has to complete reading and writing assignments from Walden; or, Life in the Woods and is drawn kicking and screaming into the transcendental vision of Henry David Thoreau’s contemplation of solitude and spirituality.

WARNING: This play contains very strong language that some may find offensive/obscene.