A Bright New Boise

Characters: 3 male, 2 female

Interior

Winner! 2011 Obie Award for Playwriting
Nominated for the 2011 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play

Samuel D. Hunter's A Bright New Boise is a earnest comedy about the meager profits of modern faith.

In the bleak, corporate break room of a craft store in Idaho, someone is summoning The Rapture. Will, who has fled his rural hometown after a scandal at his Evangelical church, comes to the Hobby Lobby, not only for employment, but also to rekindle a relationship with Alex, his brooding teenage son, whom he gave up for adoption several years ago. Alex works there along with Leroy, his adopted brother and protector, and Anna, a hapless young woman who reads bland fiction but hopes for dramatic endings. As their manager, foul-mouthed Pauline, tries ceaselessly to find order (and profit) in the chaos of small business, these lost souls of the Hobby Lobby confront an unyielding world through the beige-tinted impossibility of modern faith.

"This clear-eyed comedy will lift your heart." -Time Out New York

"Samuel D. Hunter has offered us a humorous and touching exploration of faith and family" - NYTheatre.com

"Samuel D. Hunter has effectively rendered himself a playwright to watch with A Bright New Boise...a quietly affecting drama that delves into the always thorny issues of faith, forgiveness, and second chances with great eloquence and compassion." -TheatreMania