In the fictional mining town of Greater Clements, Idaho, wealthy out-of-staters have begun purchasing properties, leaving lifelong residents - largely blue-collar workers - disenfranchised and disenchanted. Practical, unpretentious Maggie, the divorced owner of a failing Mine Tour and Museum business, cares for her troubled adult son, who has moved back home to recover. As Maggie contemplates closing her business, an old flame visits and asks her to join him in a new life beyond the desolate town's limits. Through quirky humor, keen observation, and deeply sensitive and idiosyncratic characters, Greater Clements explores just how hard it can be to leave one's past behind.

In the basement of a small evangelical church in southeastern Idaho, a group of young missionaries is preparing to go to the Middle East. One of them - a young man who has recently lost his father - has bought a one-way ticket. But his plans are complicated when his estranged sister returns home and makes it her mission to keep him there.

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

Twenty-five years ago, a motley group of friends met as kids at a summer camp where the head counselor secretly taught them that their disabilities could be "cured" through the power of prayer. Today, the group has gathered to mourn the untimely passing of one of its members. Over the course of the night, old wounds are uncovered, friendships are tested, and the truth surrounding their late friend becomes troublingly clear.

Siblings Bo and Ally are back in thier childhood home in Idaho for the funeral of their father. Their mother Carol has painted the whole house white and is suspected to have been drinking since their father's death. What Ally and Bo come to find out is that their mother has a method to her madness as she pulls out some home videos of their father just before he died. Called a fusion between realism and the absurd, A Permanent Image is a tense exploration of the distance families put betwe

A retirement home in northern Idaho is being shut down, and only three residents and a bare-bones staff remain. When a record breaking blizzard blows into town and an elderly resident disappears into the storm, everyone is brought to face their own mortality.

Eddie manages an Italian chain restaurant in Pocatello-a small, unexceptional American city that is slowly being paved over with strip malls and franchises. But he can't serve enough Soup, Salad & Breadstick Specials to make his hometown feel like home. Against the harsh backdrop of Samuel D. Hunter's Idaho, this heartbreaking comedy is a cry for connection in an increasingly lonely American landscape.

From Samuel D. Hunter, the award-winning author of The Whale and A Bright New Boise, and the 2014 recipient of the MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant, comes The Few. Four years ago, Bryan abandoned his labor of love, a newspaper for truckers. Now he's returned - with no word of where he's been - and things have changed. His former lover is filled with rage, his new coworker is filled with incessant adoration, and his paper is filled with personal ads. As he considers giving

After decades as the gentle-natured leader of a Christian retreat that endeavors to "cure" gay teens, Walt is packing up his life and preparing for a reluctant retirement. But when his final client quietly disappears into the remote Idaho wilderness, Walt discovers that his previously unwavering moral compass no longer points the way. With profound humanity and subtlety, A Great Wilderness navigates complex moral terrain, exploring the shifting motives and inconstant strength of our perso

LEWISTON: Alice and Connor sit by their roadside stand selling cheap fireworks while developers swallow the land around them. Promised a condo in the new development, their future is secure. Enter Marnie, Alice's long-lost granddaughter, proposing to buy the land to save her family's legacy. Marnie and Alice will become reacquainted with each other's deeply held secrets, uncertain pasts, and hopeful futures. Hunter, a 2014 MacArthur Fellowship recipient, explores the emotional frontiers of a family struggling to make a home in the vastness of the American landscape with affection, poignancy, and a profound sense of empathy. CLARKSTON: Jake meets Chris when they are assigned to the same night shift at Costco in Clarkston, Washington. Chris has a hard life; his mom is a meth addict, and living in Clarkston has forced him down a dead-end road. He has promise, but he's "stuck." Jake went to a liberal arts school, is gay and out, but fled his Connecticut town when he was diagnosed with a fatal illness. Wanting to see the ocean, he came to Clarkston, but was sidetracked by his illness. He and Chris form an awkward bond: both are gay, but have led completely different lives. Can they learn to help each other?

Winner! 2013 Lucille Lortel Award, Best Play Winner! 2013 Drama Desk Special Award for Significant Contribution to Theatre Winner! 2013 GLAAD Media Award, Outstanding New York Theatre Nominee! 2013 Drama League Award, Outstanding Production of a Play Nominee! 2013 Outer Critics Circle Awards, Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play Nominee! 2013 John Gassner Award, Oustanding New American Play On the outskirts of Mormon Country, Idaho, a six hundred pound recluse hides aw

Praise for "The Whale"

"A vibrant, provocative new play. . . . The sharp-eared skill and sensitivity with which Hunter explores his thickly layered material are matched by his fair-mindedness."--"The Village Voice"

Praise for "A Bright New Boise"

"A simple, superb little heartland heartbreaker. . . . This is a rube tragedy--a respectful and honest-feeling one, for a change--and by jingo, it sings."--"New York"

Acclaimed for his gentle, complex characterizations, Samuel D. Hunter's big-hearted and fiercely funny plays explore the quiet desperation running through many Middle American lives. "The Whale" tells the story of a six hundred-pound shut-in's last chance at redemption and of discovering beauty in the most unexpected places when he reaches out to his long-estranged--and severely unhappy--daughter. Hunter's second piece, the Obie Award-winning "A Bright New Boise," is a philosophical investigation of faith and search for meaning in rural Idaho where a disgraced evangelical is forced to take a minimum-wage job at the local Hobby Lobby craft store in an effort to reunite with his estranged son.

Samuel D. Hunter's other plays include "A Permanent Image," "Jack's Precious Moment," "Five Genocides," "The Few," "Rest," "A Great Wilderness," and "Norway." He has active playwriting commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center, Seattle Rep, South Coast Rep (California), and Playwrights Horizons (New York). He is also the 2013 resident playwright at Arena Stage in Washington, DC, and is a core member of the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.