Man from Nebraska: A Play

A luxury sedan, a church pew, a cafeteria table, a favorite TV show, and visits to a nursing home form the comfortable cycles of the dull daily life of middle-aged insurance salesman Ken Carpenter. Then one night, he awakens to find that he no longer believes in God. To the surprise of his very understanding (to a point) wife and his two grown daughters who think he has lost his mind, Ken decides to find himself and his faith by flying to London, where he was stationed while in the Air Force. He navigates through the new and somewhat dangerous realm of British counter-culture and ultimately finds his way back home. Tracy Letts's moving, funny, and spiritually complex play dares to ask the big questions, and by doing so, reveals the hidden yearning and emotion that spur the eccentric behavior of seemingly ordinary people.

"[A]n austere and moving portrait." --Time

"In this beautifully observed tale of seemingly ordinary souls at bay, Letts has seized on a familiar theme only to craft a tremendously mature and multifaceted portrait of the American psyche at large in the world at the dawn of the 21st century." --Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times