The Dreams of Free Men: A Play in Three Acts

By Michael Nielsen-Dray

It is 1954, Stateville, Prison, Illinois. The US Army is conducting malaria drug trials on a select group of prisoners. This group of eight men includes African Americans and displaced poor Southern whites, all with different backgrounds, sexual orientations and criminal histories. These prisoners are held in a portion of Stateville known as M Ward. There, they are subjected to endless titrations, regimens and schedules of drugs which the government hopes will either alleviate or prevent, outright, mosquito-borne malaria. This play follows the men as they do their time on the M; during their stay, they begin to experience unusually vivid dreams, then a shared dream. When a new inmate, Derrill Montgomery Freemen, is placed on the ward, the dynamics amongst the men change, as do alliances, friendships and loyalties. The interactions between the men can range from violent to simply comical. As the play progresses, Freemen begins to influence the way in which the men interpret this shared dream. Some prisoners hold him suspect, however, as the dream started not long after he appeared on the M; while others seem to blindly follow his suggestions and subscribe to his visions. Despite the opinion of the medical staff--the dream is nothing more than a side effect of the medication--at least one man on the M begins to unravel the truth about the new prisoner. This truth will test the men in ways prison itself cannot.Cast: 10 men 1 woman

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1980254397
• ISBN13: 9781980254393
• Release Date: February 2018
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 102 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.3" x 6.0"