Man from Nebraska: A Play

On the surface, the life of Ken Carpenter, a solidly married fifty-seven-year-old insurance salesman, is uneventful: silent rides in his luxury sedan, cafeteria encounters with Salisbury steak and lime Jell-O, visits to his mother in the nursing home, and the minister's sermons at the Baptist church. Then one night he is jolted awake, tortured by the discovery that he no longer believes in God. Encouraged by his minister, Ken decides to find himself and his faith by impulsively flying to London, where he navigates the new and somewhat dangerous realm of British counterculture. Tracy Letts's play dares to ask the big questions, revealing the hidden yearning and emotion that can spur eccentric behaviour in outwardly conventional people.