It's the end of the Cold War, but for the men and women stationed at an air force base outside of Omaha, the tensions of existence seem to increase each day. Dean Swift has been transferred to missile silo duty. Seventy feet underground, in a sealed launch center, the twenty-four-hour shifts take their toll on Swift, his wife, Julie, and his duty partner, Fielding. Dean entered the service, like his father before him, hoping to find a purpose to his life. Instead, he realizes that his choice of profession is a tragic mistake. Fielding, by contrast, is an enthusiastic product of military thinking, secure in the identity given him by his regimented duties. Swift's commanding officer, Major Gurney, has problems of his own. His wife, Carol, is bored with the life on base and tries to drown her sorrows in alcohol and a series of adulterous affairs. Sooner or later they all begin to lose their center in a barren landscape of loneliness and despair. Nebraska asks the question—what is the cost of keeping the peace?

Suzan-Lori Parks continues her examination of black people in history and stage through the life of the so-called "Hottentot Venus," an African woman displayed semi-nude throughout Europe due to her extraordinary physiognomy; in particular, her enormous buttocks. She was befriended, bought and bedded by a doctor who advanced his scientific career through his anatomical measurements of her after her premature death.

“The plan was that no matter what I did, how busy I was, what other commitments I had, I would write a play a day, every single day for a year. It would be about being present and being committed to the artistic process every single day, regardless of the ‘weather.’ It became a daily meditation, a daily prayer celebrating the rich and strange process of a writing life.” —Suzan-Lori Parks

On November 13, 2002, the incomparable Suzan-Lori Parks got an idea to write a play every day for a year. She began that very day, finishing one year later. The result is an extraordinary testament to artistic commitment. This collection of 365 impeccably crafted pieces, each with its own distinctive characters and dramatic power, is a complete work by an artist responding to her world, each and every day. Parks is one of the American theater's most wily and innovative writers, and her "stark but poetic language and fiercely idiosyncratic images transform her work into something haunting and marvelous" (Time).

The plays were performed over the course of a year by a network of hundreds of theaters, organized around regional hubs.

Hester La Negrita of In the Blood is an unapologetic mother of five illegitimate children—"my treasures, my five joys"—who practices writing the alphabet to help herself "one day get a leg up." The letter A is as far as she gets.

African-American history in the shadow of the photographic image.

From the pen of Dael Orlandersmith, Pulitzer Prize finalist for Yellowman, comes this blistering account of two Irish brothers' coming-of-age. After a childhood of suffering at the hands of his father, Billy escapes for New York to fulfill his dream of acting. Years later, he sends for his brother, Shane, who soon follows and finds love with a Nuyorican girl. With biting humor and rich, poetic dialogue, Raw Boys explores the irrevocable ties of family.

Bold, beautiful and fierce—Dael Orlandersmith delivers a riveting story in Black n Blue Boys / Broken Men. This gritty, one-man play portrays five unforgettable male characters, linked by their efforts to forge identities in families fractured by abuse. Each relates a story that transforms these challenges into a celebration of our capacity to survive. Orlandersmith created this piece after working at a shelter for homeless youth in the 1980s, and her writing brings these characters roaring to life. At once powerful and heartbreakingly poetic, Black n Blue Boys / Broken Men will leave you breathless.

Horsedreams explores the rapid breakdown of the family unit as a result of addiction. After his wife Desiree dies of an accidental overdose, Loman faces the harsh reality of raising their son, Luka, alone.

At a beachside apartment complex, a group of friends gathers for their regular evening of food, drink, drugs and partner-swapping. When Chris and Kristy attempt to become the newest members, the evening does not go as planned. The artichoke dip grows cold as the party devolves into a territorial battle over mating privileges. Does sex ruin everything? And what is the purpose of monogamy? Bruce Norris's comedy explores the eternal struggle for power, status and getting laid.

Domesticated dives into the conflagration of gender, power, sexuality and politics that emerges in a private relationship after a public humiliation. In this prescient play, Judy and Bill Pulver find their marriage thrust into the public eye by scandal. As told by Norris, their story is wickedly funny, deeply serious and anything but predictable.